Well the Republican “leadership” is no longer a monolithic entity, it’s split between Trumpists and establishment types. The former have been leading it all. The latter have been speaking out against it all along, but to no effect.
There's barely any "establishment" members left in the Republican party. They were primaried to death in the past couple of decades, or chose to quit when they saw what direction their party was heading. Like it or not Trump and his brand of politics is the modern Republican party.
