House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker Paul Ryan have conferred in recent days on strategy following backlash from Republicans after Trump's released 2005 tape. | Getty House GOP leaders agonize over Trump strategy They know he's put control of the chamber in jeopardy but also realize the Republican nominee could turn on them.

House Republican leaders are paralyzed over how to respond to Donald Trump's vulgar comments about women, aware that he could turn against them but also cognizant that the GOP nominee has now put control of the chamber in serious danger.

The leaders are tentatively planning to tell Republican lawmakers on a Monday morning conference call that they should feel free to abandon Trump as they seek to save their own political careers, according to multiple sources involved in planning. But top aides and lawmakers warn that the plan could change depending on Trump's debate performance.


If Trump isn’t "contrite," as one source involved with the planning put it, and if he continually pokes elected Republicans, GOP leaders believe they could face a groundswell of lawmakers urging them to publicly distance themselves from his candidacy, according to multiple aides and lawmakers. So far, leaders have held the line on their long-running approach of condemning Trump but not withdrawing their endorsements.

Trump, however, is telegraphing he'll be the opposite of contrite. He's begun to lambaste the party's leadership for not supporting him after video surfaced of him bragging about trying to lure a woman into an affair and claiming he abruptly kisses women and grabs their genitals with impunity.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted, “So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers – and elections – go down!” He also noted on Twitter he had “Tremendous support (except for some in Republican ‘leadership’).” Then, 90 minutes before the debate, Trump appeared with four women who claimed they were victimized by Bill and Hillary Clinton, some sexually.

A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll that was in the field Saturday showed Trump’s base of support was not overwhelmingly turned off by the tape, which was first reported by The Washington Post. The survey also showed that the Republicans who disavowed Trump risked backlash from their own base.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have conferred in recent days on strategy. One of the loudest and most important voices about Trump's drag on House candidates, though, has been Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm charged with keeping the majority. Republican strategists involved in House races say their dreams of single-digit losses could be quickly dissipating.

The concern within House leadership is essentially twofold, according to lawmakers and aides. Chiefly, they are worried about a steep drop in turnout — among some voters disgusted at Trump, and others angry at the so-called "establishment" for abandoning the GOP nominee. Furthermore, there's concern that independents will continue to flee the Republican Party, an enormous threat for the few dozen GOP lawmakers and candidates running in the most competitive districts.

GOP leaders plan to push to raise more money for the NRCC from outside donors and from sitting lawmakers to prevent the bottom from falling out less than a month out from the election. But the money might be too little too late. Democrats have outworked Trump on the ground, and in some television markets, advertising time is too pricey or too scarce.

After the 2005 "Access Hollywood" video leaked on Friday, a wave of GOP lawmakers — many locked in tight races — publicly declared they wouldn't vote for Trump or called on him to step aside in favor of Mike Pence, the vice presidential nominee. Overall, 35 House and Senate Republicans have disavowed Trump, including 19 House Republicans.

President Barack Obama twisted the knife Sunday afternoon, calling Trump "insecure" during a campaign event in Chicago. "Demeaning women, degrading women, but also minorities, immigrants, people of other faiths, mocking the disabled, insulting our troops, insulting our veterans," Obama said. "It tells you he is insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting other people down. Not a character trait that I would advise for somebody in the Oval Office."

While the stampede of Republicans abandoning Trump slowed on Sunday, top Republicans predicted it could quickly restart if he bombs at the debate or uses an overly negative tone, including focusing on Bill Clinton's sexual history. Trump and his surrogates have already threatened to do so, but the prospect has dismayed House Republicans, who worry it will backfire.

Even more nerve-wracking to many Republicans is the possibility of more Trump bombshells coming out in the final weeks of the race. This could hurt GOP turnout as conservatives, especially religious or movement conservatives — some already distrustful of both Trump and congressional Republicans — decide to stay home rather than vote.

"Everyone knew [Trump] was no saint, but no one knew the depth" of his problems, said a top aide to one hard-line conservative. "And I'm betting there's more to come."