“I hear that, Laura,” he said. “And I also think about the establishment wing of the party could simply be amputated out in this effort that’s going on right now. They’ve gone so far out on this limb. And in the end, maybe we can rebuild. And for me—what they’re thinking, one thing is, they don’t want Trump’s immigration plan. They’re for the Gang of Eight’s amnesty bill. That’s worth a lot to them.”

Earlier in the interview, King said that he does not think Republicans should consider the presidential election a lost cause.

“It looks grim,” he said. “But I would not resign myself that the election is lost. We do not know that we’ve lost and we must not believe that we have and the best thing we can do is lift Trump up.”