Republicans made their bed with Donald Trump. Now they have to lie in it.

Trump seems nearly certain to hunker down with his family and top aides over the 48 hours between now and Sunday night’s second presidential debate. A planned visit to Wisconsin to campaign alongside House Speaker Paul D. Ryan Saturday was scotched Friday evening, with Trump releasing a statement saying that he would remain in New York to prep for the debate. (Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will go in Trump’s stead.)

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My conversations Friday night suggest that Trump will likely be given until the debate on Sunday before there is any sort of mass abandonment of his candidacy by prominent Republicans. “I expect a lot of folks will try to wait through the weekend to gauge how Trump handles this and how meaningfully he can manage this in the Sunday debate,” said Republican strategist Alex Vogel. “I don’t expect the Speaker or [Senate] Leader [Mitch McConnell] to officially modify their endorsement until they see how the weekend goes. ”

That’s the plan — for now. Having covered similar situations — although there is no direct analog for this one — the storyline often runs beyond the initial reaction. As in, Republicans may believe they can wait until Sunday night or Monday morning to make a final call on what to do about Trump. But, this is such a massive story and we are so close from the election that candidates simply may not have the luxury of waiting to see how it all plays out over the next two days.

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