The GOP is in a grand ol’ predicament.

In the wake of the recording heard ’round the political world, the Republican Party establishment is split on whether to support its presidential nominee or pull its resources from him to stave off a down-ballot disaster.

Party leaders are weighing the risk of angering hard-core Trump supporters — who could punish congressional Republicans who abandon the nominee — against the risk the GOP will lose moderates and independents turned off by Trump’s toxicity and vulgar comments.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has essentially called the race for Hillary Clinton, focusing his efforts now entirely on preserving his majority, and a cascade of Republican lawmakers and officials have fled their nominee. But the Republican National Committee is sticking by Donald Trump’s side, with Chairman Reince Priebus insisting he and his organization are fully committed to and engaged in the campaign. And while Ryan says he won’t defend his party’s standard-bearer, he isn’t rescinding his support of him either.

Meanwhile, Trump and his staff appear to be basking in it all, wearing the defections and Ryan’s repudiation as a badge of honor that fuels his outsider campaign. Trump tweeted Monday:

Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2016

Over the weekend, he called GOP lawmakers withdrawing their endorsements “self-righteous hypocrites” and said they would fall in the polls, even as several incumbents were running ahead of him in key battleground states.

The GOP nominee is showing little interest in mending fences with his party or expanding his support. “Mr. Trump’s campaign has always been powered by a grassroots movement, not Washington,” wrote Trump Campaign Communications Director Jason Miller. Instead, Trump and his campaign believe his attacks on Hillary Clinton during the second presidential debate recharged his base and kept him in the running. In the short term, it could help stop the bleeding, as some lawmakers see an energized base as beneficial to their own campaigns.

As Trump campaigned in western Pennsylvania Monday, his supporters echoed that backlash. “I think the speaker of the House needs to be gone right now. The way they’ve treated him is deplorable,” said Rita Lieb of Indiana, Pa. “Instead of bringing the party together and voting for somebody who stands up for what’s good and right about America — they should be ashamed of themselves.”

But fresh polling indicates further trouble for Trump and his party. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll taken after news of a lewd audio recording broke but before the presidential debate shows Clinton leading Trump by 11 points in a four-way race and 14 points in a head-to-head matchup. Asked which party should control Congress, voters chose Democrats by seven points.

Such numbers illustrate the challenge facing congressional Republicans. While the House has long been considered safe from Democratic takeover, thanks in large part to the way in which districts are carved up favorably for the GOP, some uncertainty remains with Trump atop the ticket. Ryan’s announcement on Monday gives lawmakers flexibility to navigate the Trump environment however they see fit.

“At one level, things structurally still look solid. But the level of volatility that has been introduced here is potentially so large that you just have to take steps on the assumption that there may be a problem,” says David Winston, a veteran Republican pollster. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

For Senate Republicans, little changed after the debate Sunday night. Ten senators backed off supporting Trump over the weekend — including Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and John McCain of Arizona, all up for re-election this year — but there were no new defections Monday. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who condemned Trump’s comments about women but didn’t pull his support, refused to discuss the presidential race Monday afternoon.

“If you are interested in the presidential election you might as well go ahead and leave because I don’t have any observations to make about it,” McConnell told the crowd at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in his home state of Kentucky, the Associated Press reported. “In my job as majority leader of the Senate, I’ve found my observations, no matter where I make them, are immediately spun around the world and I don’t have anything to add on the presidential race today."

And some Republican senators felt that Trump’s apology at the debate Sunday night was enough to continue supporting him. North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, who’s locked in a competitive race with Democrat Deborah Ross, said before the debate he was watching to see Trump’s level of contrition before making up his mind. At a campaign stop Monday, Burr confirmed Trump still has his support.

“When I look at what the country needs — and that’s an economy that grows, jobs that are created and a strong national defense — I’m convinced that I can’t get there with Hillary Clinton. So yeah, I’m supporting Donald Trump,” Burr told McClatchy News Service, adding that it was “too late” for Republicans to re-think their top of the ticket.

“We don’t get to pick, now, any additional folks to run,” Burr said. “So we have to take who we think best meets the way forward in the future.”

Burr’s reaffirmation of his support of Trump leaves Senate Republicans split. In the 10 most competitive Senate races, five Republicans are still supporting Trump: Burr, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and Indiana Rep. Todd Young, running for the open seat there. Four do not support the nominee: Portman, Ayotte, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada, running for the open seat there.

That leaves just Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who has not yet said whether he will support Trump on Election Day. Toomey condemned Trump’s remarks in a statement Monday morning while also criticizing Clinton, but did not address whether he would support the GOP candidate.

"Sadly, last night’s debate again showed the shortcomings of both presidential candidates. I have not endorsed Donald Trump and I have repeatedly spoken out against his flawed policies, and his outrageous comments, including his indefensible and appalling comments about women.”

Republicans have felt throughout this election season that their incumbents and candidates have walked the Trump tightrope carefully, and have remained close or are leading in most competitive races despite Trump’s struggles. Just weeks ago, Republicans were confident in their ability to keep the Senate. But the Trump recording that surfaced Friday threw a wrench in the works just four weeks before the election. No polling in battleground races has been made public since the release of the recording and the debate, so it’s unclear yet what sort of impact Trump’s collapse could have on down-ballot Republicans.

But the RNC’s decision Monday to stick with Trump left some Republicans frustrated that their down-ballot campaigns wouldn’t receive more resources as they face a tough headwind in the final stretch. One senior Republican strategist working on down-ticket races criticized Priebus and others in the RNC leadership for the decision.

"I’m disappointed but not shocked,” the strategist told RCP.

Rebecca Berg contributed to this report.

Caitlin Huey-Burns is a national political reporter for RealClearPolitics. She can be reached at chueyburns@realclearpolitics.com. Follow her on Twitter @CHueyBurnsRCP.