One of Donald Trump’s most ardent and polarizing backers, the conservative writer Ann Coulter, said she thought the GOP nominee was just another “boorish vulgarian” until he launched his 2016 campaign with a “magnificent” speech calling Mexican immigrants “rapists.”

“I probably thought of him – until that magnificent Mexican rapist speech – in the way a lot of the Never Trumpers do,” Coulter told Politico’s Glenn Thrush on his podcast, out Tuesday. “He seemed like a – I don’t know, boorish vulgarian. I never really thought about him.”

But once Trump put immigration firmly at the center of his campaign, Coulter realized, “Wow, was I wrong.”

Of course, Coulter detests the idea of Trump “softening” his hard-line, build-the-wall stance on immigration. But she was also in frequent contact with ex-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

“I would email in a point or two now and then, and whatever,” Coulter told Politico. She also urged Lewandowski to get Trump to stop attacking women’s appearances, particularly after he retweeted an unflattering photo of Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) wife Heidi.

Coulter also fretted that Trump would immediately back down when the going got tough, but was finally reassured when the real estate mogul rolled out his expansive plan to ban all Muslim immigration to the United States.

“[Trump] came out for the Muslim ban on my birthday, Dec. 8, my best birthday gift ever. I finally emailed Corey and said, OK, I think he’s not backing down,” she said.