WASHINGTON _ Republicans faced a deepening split in their ranks Monday as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan declared he would no longer defend Donald Trump and instead focus the last four weeks of the presidential campaign on preserving the GOP's majority in Congress.
He urged fellow lawmakers to do whatever is necessary to win Nov. 8, effectively declaring every man and woman for themselves.
Ryan drew an immediate backlash, on Capitol Hill and at the party's grass roots, as loyalists were stunned the top elected Republican in the country was cutting loose the GOP standard-bearer a scant 29 days before the election.
Trump responded with a slap on Twitter. "Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee," Trump wrote.
Supporters were equally aggrieved.
"I'm so proud of everyone in this room. You didn't run," said Ron Howard, a military veteran who introduced Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, at a rally in North Carolina. "The rest of the Republican establishment are running away from the sound of gunfire."
The backbiting, a day after Trump and Hillary Clinton waged a searing, insult-filled debate, underscored the bind facing the GOP and its leaders, who had come around to Trump's candidacy with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
The choice amounts to rejecting the candidate chosen by voters and risk the party's base staying home out of pique, or continuing to embrace Trump _ overlooking his offensive behavior _ and possibly alienate women and other swing voters who can make a difference in close House and Senate contests.
"Republicans made a deal with the devil, and when you make a deal with the devil you end up in hell," said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist in Sacramento, Calif., and longtime Trump skeptic.
The move by Ryan, who has been distinctly cool toward Trump, reflected a growing sense of panic among Republicans that their nominee was not only fated to lose the presidential race but could face the kind of landslide that would drag many GOP candidates down with him.
A NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey conducted over the weekend, before Sunday night's debate, showed Clinton pulling out to a 52 percent-38 percent lead over Trump. In a four-way match-up including Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and the Green Party's Jill Stein, Clinton led by 11 percentage points.
The survey was in line with other polls that showed support for Trump slipping even before a 2005 video surfaced on Friday, showing him boasting that his celebrity allows him to grope and kiss women against their will.
More worrisome on Capitol Hill, likely voters sided with Democrats, 49 percent to 42 percent, when asked which party they would prefer in control of Congress. The result is up from a 3-point Democratic advantage last month.
Democrats could retake control of the Senate if Clinton is elected and they gain four seats, a goal that seems well within reach. (Her vice presidential running mate, Tim Kaine, could cast a tie-breaking vote.) If Trump is elected, Democrats would need to gain five seats.
Democrats would need to pick up 30 House seats to take control, a number that has seemed far beyond their capacity until civil war broke out within the GOP.
Dozens of party leaders and elected officials either rescinded their endorsement of Trump or said they would not vote for him after the tawdry video surfaced. In Sunday night's debate Trump apologized for the remarks and characterized them as "locker room" talk that belied his true feelings.
Ryan cut his ties to Trump in a Monday morning conference call with GOP lawmakers, telling Republicans they should "do what's best for you in your district," according to a participant who was granted anonymity to discuss the private session.
The Wisconsin lawmaker said he would not defend Trump or campaign with him for the remainder of the election.
About a dozen members spoke up on the call, and most disagreed with the speaker.
"The best way to ensure a Republican majority in the House is to make Donald Trump the most successful candidate we can make him," one of the participants, Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, said in an interview afterward. "The idea that running from him strengthens that, I don't buy that strategy."
A Clinton spokeswoman scoffed at Ryan's decision. "There was a time where they could have spoken out. That time was this summer," Jennifer Palmieri told reporters traveling with Clinton to a campaign stop in Detroit. "Obviously it's too late now."
Some Trump supporters suggested they might punish Republicans who back away from him now.
"A lot of the politicians are trying to protect their future of getting elected and not necessarily protecting the future of the United States," said Gary Burgess, a 65-year-old engineer from Charlotte who came to the Pence rally in a converted warehouse now used for concerts and theater.
Appearing on cable TV before the rally, the vice presidential hopeful insisted he was fully behind Trump after initially refusing to defend his sexually aggressive and predatory comments.
"It is absolutely false to think at any time we considered dropping off this ticket," Pence said on CNN. "I look forward to campaigning shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump."
He also said he accepted Trump's explanation that talk of forcing himself on woman and grabbing their crotch was only talk. "He said it is not something he has done," Pence said. "He made it clear last night."
Pence also waved away Trump's statement during the debate repudiating Pence's position on the civil war in Syria _ a potential U.S. military response to Russia's involvement _ blaming the discrepancy on the way the question was asked.
He said both men support establishing "safe zones" in Syria to protect civilians and using military resources for that effort.
