Remember back when we thought there would be a red wave and a large number of Republicans would be swept into office on November 8? Good times, good times. During that time, out on the campaign trail, the rhetoric sometimes got a little carried away. It happens. Sometimes politicians say things they later regret and that is the case with Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.

Youngkin had second thoughts about remarks he made after the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi was brutally attacked in their home in San Francisco. During a campaign stump speech for a Republican congressional candidate just hours after the attack was reported, Youngkin said of Nancy Pelosi, “There’s no room for violence anywhere, but we’re going to send her back to be with him in California.” Too soon? Nah. But, social media did its thing and liberals reacted as you would expect. It was as though Youngkin was the worst human being on the planet.

At the time, Youngkin laughed off the criticism. He declined to say he regretted the remark when asked about it during a television interview. That was the appropriate response, if you ask me. He prefaced his glib remark by saying there is no place for violence. He wasn’t advocating for violence. From all appearances, Youngkin is a smiley-faced, happy warrior kind of guy. He’s not a lunatic calling for violence, especially political violence. That’s what Democrats do these days. Anyway, apparently he has had some second thoughts and he sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi apologizing for his remarks.

“My full intention on my comments was to categorically state that violence and the kind of violence that was perpetrated against Speaker Pelosi’s husband is not just unacceptable, it’s atrocious. And I didn’t do a great job with that,” the Republican governor said in a statement provided by a spokesperson.

Youngkin said he sent Pelosi a “personal note” to “to reflect those sentiments.”

Pelosi’s spokesman, Drew Hammill, confirmed the letter.

It’s not necessary to apologize for such a benign remark. No one in his audience thought Youngkin was advocating for violence. If anything, the timing was off, but the sentiment was one that Republicans were in agreement on. The red wave was going to send Nancy Pelosi into retirement from her position as speaker. That was going to happen no matter what else was going on. There was already a story floating around that Pelosi asked her old friend Joe Biden for an ambassadorship. Rumor is that he’s holding open the slot of ambassador to Italy for her. She could spend a couple of years easing into retirement with a sweet gig in Italy, far away from her current life in Washington, D.C.

The truth is that though Republicans did not get their anticipated red wave, the House will flip back to Republican control and Pelosi will no longer be speaker. Even before the attack on her husband, she was no doubt thinking of what her next move will be. Do we think she was entertaining thoughts of hanging around in the House, perhaps in a leadership position in the minority? At the age of 82, the logical thing would be to step aside and let the next generation take her seat. She obviously thought so, too, because the rumors about the ambassadorship surfaced.

As it turns out, Pelosi has already said that the attack on her husband has affected her decision about retiring. Frankly, she must feel tremendous guilt that the man who attacked her 82-year-old husband with a hammer was reported to have intended his attack on her, not her husband, Paul. The events of that attack in the middle of the night at their home in San Francisco are still in question but it’s been reported that the man intended to attack Nancy, asking “Where’s Nancy?”

Youngkin didn’t need to officially apologize for his remarks but it can be looked at as a gesture showing human decency. Maybe it’s me but I don’t think he should have bothered. I would imagine that sending Pelosi home to San Francisco was part of his campaign stump speech before the attack and he was just continuing on as usual, though with a caveat about violence being wrong under normal circumstances. In today’s political atmosphere, Youngkin’s remarks were completely acceptable and he stated his desire to send Pelosi packing in an acceptable way. Republicans have to stop apologizing so much because Democrats sure don’t. It really wasn’t necessary this time.

It sounds like Paul Pelosi is recovering from his injuries, slowly but surely, and that’s good news. I wish him a full recovery.