But the fun is done. Thanks to Trump’s charge that Cruz may be ineligible for the presidency because he was born in Canada, radio talkers have had to pick sides. And in the process, they could take some hits.

“The analogy I would use is watching somebody who has been raising a crocodile in their bathtub,” said Charlie Sykes, one of the most influential conservative talk radio hosts in Wisconsin. “And suddenly, the crocodile gets big enough to bite them — and they’re surprised by it!”…

These hosts consistently and doggedly defended Trump. Now that they’re suggesting he’s a faux conservative with a foolish strategy, they could be jeopardizing their audience credibility. And now that Cruz is seriously going after Trump, these talkers’ audiences will hear more about his history of taking liberal positions.

“I think it’s gonna leave lasting scars, there’s no question about it,” said Sykes.

“I think there’s a major crisis of confidence for a lot of conservatives who have listened to some of these hosts for years and have trusted them, and now are listening to them go on this Trump tangent,” he continued. “I hear this all the time. People are going, what happened? Who do I believe, who do I trust now? In this medium, trust once broken is very hard to reestablish.”