Trump Calls for Healing on Thanksgiving After Running Scorched Earth Campaign

— -- After running a campaign in which he lambasted political opponents as liars and "crooked," derided Muslims and Mexicans, and took aim at women who accused him of sexual assault, President-elect Donald Trump had a new message for the country on the eve of Thanksgiving -- unity.

"Emotions are raw and tensions just don’t heal overnight," Trump, who has largely been out of sight since Election Day, said in the video posted Wednesday. "It doesn’t go quickly, unfortunately, but we have before us the chance now to make history together to bring real change to Washington."

As Trump has worked behind the scenes to assemble his Cabinet, divisions that surfaced during the campaign clearly have not subsided.

In interviews following his victory, Trump been forced to address disturbing behavior from 'alt-right' hate groups and several reports of attacks by supporters who claim to be carrying out harassment and even violence in his name. He has urged those supporters to "stop" and that he disavows any hate groups who may have been energized by his victory.

During the campaign, Trump called for a complete temporary ban on Muslim immigrants, derided some Mexican immigrants as rapists and murderers, called President Obama the founder of ISIS, refused to acknowledge that the president was a natural-born citizen for months and launching into Twitter salvos not only against political opponents but members of the media as well.

Trump vehemently denied the sex assault allegations and threatened to sue over coverage of the stories.

He publicly mocked a disabled reporter and gave rivals nicknames such as "Lyin'" Ted Cruz, "Little" Marco Rubio and "Crooked" Hillary Clinton, whom he threatened to throw in jail over her email scandal. His campaign rallies were regularly punctuated with chants of "lock her up."

In the video message, Trump urged Americans to use the holiday to "begin to heal our divisions and move forward as one country, strengthened by a shared purpose and very, very common resolve."

The Trump family will be spending their Thanksgiving together in the luxurious Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where they have vacationed for the past two decades.