ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl said Sunday that if Donald Trump doesn’t perform well enough in the second presidential debate in the wake of his damaging hot mic comments about women, his running mate Mike Pence could abandon the ticket.

This Week host George Stephanopoulos said that he had heard that Republican were pressuring Pence to leave if Trump doesn’t offer a full-throated apology in Sunday’s debate. “The argument there is that Pence is the anchor that is keeping Trump in the race,” Karl said. “If Pence were to make a big statement by dropping out of the race, leaving the ticket, it would put incredible pressure on Trump to get out of the race.”

.@jonkarl: If Trump doesn’t do well in debate, “I would not rule out the possibility” that Pence would leave ticket. https://t.co/rktM42FwPl

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 9, 2016

“There’s no indication that Pence will do that,” Karl noted. “But George, I tell you, if this does not go well tonight in this debate, I would not rule out the possibility that Mike Pence would do just that, he would leave the ticket.”

Watch above, via ABC News.

[Image via screengrab]

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