I’ve been accused of turning on Trump only because he turned on me. If that were the case, the time to be vindictive would have been after I agreed to sell my company to serve in the administration, only to be used as a hatchet man and then summarily fired after 11 days as White House communications director simply because I used naughty words to tell a reporter, whom I had mistakenly trusted, the truth about bad people.

I broke from Trump because not only has his behavior become more erratic and his rhetoric more inflammatory, but also because, like all demagogues, he is incapable of handling constructive criticism. As we lie on the bed of nails Trump has made, it’s often difficult to see how much the paradigm of acceptable conduct has shifted. For the Republican Party, it’s now a question of whether we want to start cleaning up the mess or continue papering over the cracks.

I challenge my fellow Republicans to summon the nerve to speak out on the record against Trump. Defy the culture of fear he has created, and go public with the concerns you readily express in private. Hold on to your patriotism, and help save the country from his depredations. And to members of the so-called resistance, please leave room on the off-ramp for those willing to admit their mistakes.