“My parents flew to the Tea Party marches and police officers were chatting with my folks telling them it was a pleasure assisting decent people.”
The Tea Party accomplished nothing, then faded away.
So the 60 gain in the House in 2010 was nothing. Hmmmm.
The Tea Party, imho, was the last attempt of the base to reclaim the Republican party, and the party reacted by moving to neutralize the base.
Trump is a hostile takeover of the party that killed the Tea Party.