In conversations with Pence’s friends and advisers, all of whom requested anonymity to speak candidly, it’s apparent that the Access Hollywood tape — on which Trump can be heard boasting about groping women — was a devastating blow to him. It was also a watershed: Pence spent the weekend holed up, unwilling to face questions, and when he re-emerged after private discussions with a contrite Trump, he went into a different sort of shell, newly certain that his running mate — a man he’s prayed with, golfed with, become friends with — is being victimized by a bloodthirsty liberal media. Pence is now willfully insulated — from the possibility that Trump may indeed have committed sexual assault; from the harshest critiques of his decision to join the GOP ticket; and from the reality that its defeat is likely. It’s telling that while many of his allies are bearish about what Election Day will bring, Pence is certain that a historic triumph is at hand…

And then there’s Paul Ryan. He and Pence served together in the House and remain so close that Pence asked the speaker to introduce him at the Republican convention. When Trump initially declined to endorse Ryan in his August primary, Pence made a rare public break with his running mate, telling Fox News, “I believe we need Paul Ryan in leadership in the Congress of the United States.” But the prolonged feud between Trump and Ryan has tested Pence’s loyalties. He was vexed by Ryan’s decision to stop advocating for Trump after the Access Hollywood tape, while Trump himself denounced Ryan as “our very weak and ineffective leader” and suggested he should lose the speakership.

In our interview, Pence declined three times to answer the question of whether Ryan should be reelected as speaker. “My respect for Paul Ryan is boundless,” he says, repeating it twice. “I’m not a member of the House Republican conference anymore. I wouldn’t presume upon what the members of the conference choose.”