Earlier this year, Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and a maven of the religious right, compared Donald Trump to King David, the ancient Israelite hero, saying that both are “a man after God’s own heart.” Falwell’s comparison is outlandish, yes, but there is one Biblical champion that Trump resembles closely: the mighty hewn Samson. Like Trump, Samson was famous for his hair, fought against foreign domination of his nation, was quick to vengeful anger, and had a weakness for female beauty.

But for Republicans, there’s one aspect of the Samson analogy that should be particularly worrying. When Samson was captured by the Philistines, he pulled down the pillars of their temple, preferring to die while destroying his tormentors rather than live in captivity. If Trump feels trapped by his alliance with the Republican Party, he may very well unleash the Samson Option, going down in a glorious defeat that takes the GOP with him.

The Samson Option has emerged as a hypothetical scenario because the Republican National Committee is considering scissoring Trump’s purse strings. As Politico reported yesterday, “Publicly, Republican Party officials continue to stand by Donald Trump. Privately, at the highest levels, party leaders have started talking about cutting off support to Trump in October and redirecting cash to save endangered congressional majorities.” Chatter about a divorce has also been fueled by a letter from more than 70 Republican politicians and strategists calling on the RNC to abandon Trump and focus on down-ballot races.

While severing financial ties to Trump might make sense as triage for a party trying to save as many candidates as possible during an electoral slaughter, it carries a significant risk. Trump already has only minimal loyalty to the GOP. Unlike most politicians, he has no need for the party in his post-election career. He is in a position to wreak retribution on the party, destroying it from within if he feels betrayed.

He is in a position to wreck retribution on the party, destroying it from within if he feels betrayed.

From Trump’s point of view, the RNC jilting him would be seen as not just treason but also theft, since the party is raising money with his name. As Politico notes, “Trump himself declared Thursday that he’s doing more to boost the RNC’s coffers than the campaign is doing for him, and warned that he might back out of the joint fundraising arrangement.”