How depraved will America allow Donald Trump to be? Is there anything this man will not be allowed to say or do in his quest for the presidency?

You, of course, know what I’m talking about; it’s all anyone in news can talk about. His peers have already begun to play down or condemn his 2,005 words. There have been renewed calls for Trump to drop out, as if he’ll pay these new calls any more heed than prior ones; his vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence is much scarier, having actually signed dangerous, traumatizing legislation time after time.

Trump has been attempting a redirect, saying he’ll double down on attacks against former President Bill Clinton for sexual assault. Hillary Clinton has been implicated by both Republicans and leftists as covering up her husband’s assaults, with Trump himself saying Hillary Clinton “bullied, attacked, shamed, and intimidated [Bill Clinton’s] victims.”

This is not a tactic that will play out well for Trump. The headlines from the most recent presidential debate say it all. Hillary Clinton will probably continue to hammer on Trump’s personal history, pressing the advantage she gained this weekend all the way until election night. Trump will deflect, as he always does. Perhaps he will apologize yet again, a desperate ploy to salvage his campaign and court senior Republicans. His approval ratings are tanking yet again, and this time, it appears fatal.

The only real path forward seems to rest with Pence, praying he can rally support among establishment Republicans still willing to invest in a ticket that appears beyond saving. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., has openly said he wants Pence to head the ticket, a desire many Republicans dissatisfied with Trump have expressed. Sen. John McCain has said he will write-in a Republican he supports, although he declined to name a candidate.

Trump continues to alienate more moderate voters while he appeals to his ravenous core constituents. But now that Trump’s defeat looks all but inevitable, how will those core constituents react?

Trump has reached the status of an icon in every sense of the word, a bigoted demagogue whose word is taken as gospel by his supporters. He has referred to assassination, reveled in racism, and now showboated about sexual assault. How will these behaviors be refracted through the prism of a disgruntled fraction of the electorate? I’m not alone in my fear of violence and riots by Trump fans, a fear only marginally smaller than my fear of a Trump presidency. Maybe that’s the scariest thing about Trump: Long after his campaign is dead, his words will live on.