The House speaker, Paul D Ryan, dealt a hammer blow to Donald J Trump's presidential candidacy on Monday, dashing any remaining semblance of Republican unity and inviting fierce backlash from his own caucus by announcing that he would no longer defend Trump.
Ryan's stance drew an immediate rebuke from Trump, who posted on Twitter that Ryan should focus on governing "and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee."
Ryan informed Republican lawmakers on a morning conference call that he would never again campaign for Trump and would dedicate himself instead to defending the party's majority in Congress, according to five lawmakers who participated in the call and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Effectively conceding defeat for his party in the presidential race, Ryan said his most urgent task was ensuring that Hillary Clinton did not take the helm with Democratic control of the House and Senate, two lawmakers said.
The reaction from hard-liners was swift and angry. Over the course of an hour, a stream of conservative lawmakers urged their colleagues not to give up on Trump and chided Ryan for what they described as surrendering prematurely in the presidential race. Trump's campaign is reeling after a disastrous two weeks that culminated in the release on Friday of a 2005 recording in which he bragged about sexual assault.
One of the conservatives, Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California, attacked the Republicans stepping away from Trump as "cowards," three lawmakers said. Another, Representative Trent Franks of Arizona, said, using graphic language to describe abortion, that allowing Clinton into the White House would end with fetuses being destroyed "limb from limb."
Trying to quiet the uproar, Ryan interjected after about 45 minutes to assure members that he was not withdrawing his endorsement of Trump, but rather doing what he felt was in the best interests of the House.
For five months, Ryan and Trump have alternated between friction and courtship, eventually forging an uneasy working relationship only to see it collapse now, in the final weeks of the race.
AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, confirmed that his sole priority for the remainder of the election would be defending congressional Republicans. "The speaker is going to spend the next month focused entirely on protecting our congressional majorities," she said.
Trump did not repeat his Twitter jab at Ryan at a campaign event in Pennsylvania Monday afternoon, offering instead a red-meat diatribe unlikely to appeal beyond his dedicated base. He repeated his call from Sunday night's debate for a special prosecutor to pursue Clinton, called her "the devil" and warned that her election would lead to "the destruction of our country."
A buoyant Clinton seemed to revel in her growing advantage over Trump during a speech in Detroit on Monday afternoon. Trump, she said, had spent their debate "attacking when he should have been apologising."
While Clinton made no direct reference to the fissures appearing among Republicans, her campaign tried to exploit the moment, releasing several television ads featuring voters who describe themselves as Republicans but plan to vote for Clinton.
Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director, expressed little sympathy for Republicans now fleeing Trump.
"There was a time when they could have spoken out against him," Palmieri said of party leaders like Ryan. "That time was this summer. Obviously, it is too late now."
The consequences for both men are enormous. Ryan and other Republican leaders fear that Trump's flagging campaign will imperil their majorities in the House and Senate, and Trump can ill afford more prominent rejections when he is trying to rally reluctant Republican voters behind him.
Trump's candidacy was already in dire condition before Ryan's announcement. A poll published Monday by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found him trailing Clinton by a wide margin, drawing less than 40 per cent of the vote. The survey was taken before the debate.
And in a sign of how deep divisions now run among Republicans, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, held a conference call of his own after Ryan's to emphasise his commitment to Trump. Priebus told members that the committee was working in "full coordination" with the Trump campaign and planned to direct "a lot" of money to the presidential race.
"Nothing has changed in our support for our nominee," he said, vowing "an incredible four weeks" until the election.
Priebus, long a close political ally of Ryan, made no direct reference to the speaker's announcement, or to the dozens of governors and members of Congress who have rescinded their support for Trump.
Representative Scott Rigell of Virginia, a Republican who has long opposed Trump, said there was a general sense in the House that more humiliating disclosures about Trump were likely to come before November 8, Election Day.
"There's a consensus, even among supporters, that the likelihood of something else breaking in a very embarrassing and negative fashion is certainly better than 50-50," said Rigell, who joined the call on Monday. "The conference, members, et cetera, are bracing themselves for another salvo of this."
Trump seemed to acknowledge that possibility in Pennsylvania, commenting offhand in his speech that if more recordings were to emerge, he would respond with more personal attacks on Clinton and her husband.
Trump's allies had hoped that the debate would halt the exodus of fellow Republicans from his candidacy, and they publicly implored members of the party on Monday to stick with him through Election Day. Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, Trump's running mate, punctured speculation that he might withdraw from the race by pronouncing himself "proud to stand with Donald Trump" in a visit to North Carolina.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, also offered an ominous warning for Republicans fleeing Trump. She noted on television that Ryan had been booed by Trump fans over the weekend in Wisconsin and said she knew of Republican lawmakers who had behaved inappropriately toward young women, and whose criticism of Trump was therefore hypocritical.
Just as telling as the frustration from outspoken conservatives in the House on Monday was the silence from so many mainstream Republicans in the chamber, who showed little appetite to argue for or with their embattled nominee.
Few anti-Trump voices weighed in on the call with Ryan. Representative Martha Roby of Alabama, who defected from Trump on Saturday, said she would contribute significant money to help Republicans hold their House majority. But she also said she would speak with colleagues in private about her decision to withdraw her endorsement in the presidential race.
Representative Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a vocal critic of Trump, asked his colleagues if they were truly confident that there would be no more damaging disclosures. In any case, Dent argued that the race was effectively over for Trump.
No new prominent Republicans have withdrawn their endorsements since the debate, but there was a palpable fear throughout the party that Trump had been damaged beyond repair.
Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, urged members on the conference call to take polls in their districts to gauge the effect of Trump's political slide.
Walden said they should brace for a significant erosion of support for Trump and acknowledged that the shift could hurt congressional candidates, too. He asked the entire caucus to contribute quickly to the party's campaign arm, making it clear that they needed to strengthen their defenses across the country.
At a briefing for Washington lobbyists later in the day, Walden acknowledged to donors that Republicans were in uncharted territory and wholly uncertain of what would happen next.
Still, many members were pointed in expressing their dismay to Ryan, warning him of grave consequences, in November and beyond, if Trump's campaign collapses altogether.
Representative Billy Long of Missouri spoke up in Trump's defense, citing the danger of losing the Supreme Court if Clinton wins.
"Many of us commented that if Hillary picks the next two to four judges, it will change the fabric of our country of 40, 50 years," Long said later. "Abortion and the Second Amendment, also, and lots of Supreme Court concerns."
©2016 The New York Times News Service
