to be honest the GOP lost the chance to be free of Trump when their senators refused to convict him after the Jan 6 impeachment.
I think they lost their chance when he won in 2016. He has so thoroughly captured their base that ousting him would certainly lose them the next several elections, if they ever could fully recover. That’s not to say it’s not 100% on the GOP, he’s the consequence of decades of pandering to the far-right. I’m convinced they could have gotten rid of him before 2016 as well, but the conservatives thought they could control Hitler again and now he’s got them by the balls.
I think they lost their chance when he won in 2016. He has so thoroughly captured their base that ousting him would certainly lose them the next several elections, if they ever could fully recover. That’s not to say it’s not 100% on the GOP, he’s the consequence of decades of pandering to the far-right. I’m convinced they could have gotten rid of him before 2016 as well, but the conservatives thought they could control Hitler again and now he’s got them by the balls.