LOL.... this is not medieval times.
Today the politician reflect the will of the people, not the man who modifies the will of the people
They vaste majority of the people of his state did not want his apology. For the rest, the apology would not have mattered either way.
But he would have gained political acceptability and allies by making that apology. It would have been a pure political move. Yet he choose not to make one. Because he is not a "politician",
he is a Leader. A man of conviction. A man of principles.
Not too many of him around in this world.