Republican lawmakers are responsible for Trump's policy failures due to their previous enablement of him.

“You don't get to distance yourself from the president who you enabled and who you emboldened just because you recognize now that his actions are politically inconvenient.”

Thomas Massie's views have remained consistent, while Donald Trump's stated positions have shifted significantly.

“So I don't feel like your views have changed, might have never changed. Regardless of who the president is or who the speaker is. But Trump's have changed dramatically, at least the disconnect between what he said he was going to do. What he's doing is, is shocking.”

Senate Republicans like John Thune have failed to effectively challenge Donald Trump, having essentially allowed him to walk all over them.

“And he's kowtowed to Donald Trump. He's allowed Trump to more or less walk all over him and walk all over the Republicans in the Senate.”

The Republican Party's recent pushback against Trump represents a system of checks and balances holding rather than a genuine transformation or development of an independent spine within the party.

“It's not necessarily that you've got suddenly the Republican Party growing a spine or moving in a different direction. We've had that, you know, that's a premature obituary that we've had so many times before.”

Republican leaders avoid criticizing Donald Trump because they are complicit in or benefit from his behavior.

“The fact that at every point, the reason why Donald Trump is allowed to get away with all of this bad behavior is because the leaders and the other members of his own party will not call him out about it. They won't say anything, and they're the ones that need to be voted out.”