Maybe Trump stole their ability to operate in their comfort zone which, for most of them, involves taking money from big donors, then dancing to their tune regardless of what the base wants.
Trump changed the rules - instead of politics as usual, he raised the bar to ACTUALLY BEING HONEST.
Oh, and that statement that Walker was “the hard-liner” on immigration is just so much garbage - he was about as much in favor of amnesty as the other softies. NFW was I going to vote for this guy, even before Trump got in.
These guys fully expected 6 months of prancing around to dinners and meetings with the financial backers. Saying some soft conservative things for show, while generally not making any waves.
Trump made short work of that, and exposed lots of these guys as being nothing but sure losers.