> Instead, they [Trump’s GOP opponents] chose to stay silent, and even seem to encourage this outrage. <
Yes. As you noted, they should have loudly and continuously objected to how Trump was being treated. Instead they put their own political goals first.
This is bad for the Republican Party. But it is MUCH WORSE for the country. The Democrats will now be emboldened to conduct a show trial for any conservative they see as a threat.
And why not? The Democrats know that will get little or no push-back.
At the risk of being overly optimistic (which usually gets me flamed), I think this might be the end of the RINO domination of the GOP, but the GOP might come out stronger.
Assuming Trump keeps dominating in the polls, and wins big in the primaries, this is a repudiation of the Republican establishment by the Republican grass roots.