Trump came to the nation’s capital at the behest of GOProud, a small upstart group of gay conservatives who, in a Hail Mary attempt to make a name for themselves among Republicans, had invited him to be a surprise speaker at the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference, the nation’s largest annual gathering of right-wing activists.

The speech Trump would deliver to a standing-room-only crowd would help launch his stardom among conservatives and set off a long chain of events that would lead to his status as the Republican Party presidential front-runner just four years later.

This week, Trump is preparing to return to the same conference on Saturday as the Republican front-runner for president. And the two men who helped start it all — GOProud leaders Christopher Barron and Jimmy LaSalvia — are horrified at what they call Trump’s divisive campaign rhetoric and want people to know how much they regret what they helped unleash.

“I’m sorry, America. I helped Donald Trump to give his first speech as a potential candidate,” LaSalvia told CNN in an interview. “And now I’m going to work to make sure he never gives an Inauguration speech.”