I believe there were a number of things like this where Republicans held back expecting Trump to not survive. Why didn't Republicans defend Trump over the child separations at the border that happened during the Obama administration? It's not because Republicans would sacrifice children to open borders), it's because they still see Trump as damaged and don't want to be aligned with him.
That's the impact the Mueller investigations are having on Trump, making him toxic to supporters.
-PJ
Stop making excuses for them. Republicans in Congress have kept their distance from him because he’s not a real Republican. He built his 2016 campaign on two major issues — trade and immigration — where he was completely opposed to the national GOP platform. That’s got to be unprecedented.