ANALYSIS/OPINION:

“The Three Stooges.” Normally we would immediately think of Moe, Larry and Curly, the three brothers famous for their burlesque slapstick comedy originating in the early 1920s. Usually off on a wild goose chase, they were cartoonish and clueless.

What a perfect nickname for a trio of men who fancy themselves as Republican primary challengers of President Trump. Mark Sanford, Bill Weld and Joe Walsh are now “The Three Stooges,” as the president christened them in a tweet:

“When the former Governor of the Great State of South Carolina, @MarkSanford, was reported missing, only to then say he was away hiking on the Appalachian Trail, then was found in Argentina with his Flaming Dancer friend, it sounded like his political career was over. It was … but then he ran for Congress and won, only to lose his re-elect after I Tweeted my endorsement, on Election Day, for his opponent. But now take heart, he is back, and running for President of the United States. The Three Stooges, all badly failed candidates, will give it a go!”

One of the several elements that Mr. Trump employs in his politics is choosing nicknames for opponents. The president doesn’t hesitate using ridicule and humor to define his adversaries, and it’s a tactic that amuses and enrages.

Lyin’ Ted, Crooked Hillary, Little Marco, Low Energy Jeb, Sleepy Joe and Pocahontas, among many others, are now so famously known by their nickname, they’re like Elvis and Cher — they’ll never need their last names again.

Running under an iteration of the common “chaos!” temper-tantrum theme, they insist Mr. Trump is out of control, dividing the nation, encouraging racism and is just a bad, bad man.

What’s the evil bad man been up to lately? The jobs report last week revealed extraordinary historic numbers. The GOP reported African American, Hispanic and Asian unemployment hit record lows; wage growth has topped 3 percent for more than a year; 6.3 million jobs have been created since Mr. Trump’s election, over half of those for women; and 157.9 million Americans are employed, the most ever.

Things are obviously out of control — if you’re a Trump-hater.

They all know none of them will be the nominee, which means only one thing: They’re doing this with the intention of damaging the president in the lead-up to the general election. And why would they want to do that? Because they want the Democrat to win.

That seems a strange goal for “Republicans” considering the Democrats now represent socialism, infanticide, open borders, gun confiscation and government-run “health care,” which is really death care. Perhaps they’re acolytes of talk-show host Bill Maher who openly admits he wishes for another recession if it would get rid of Mr. Trump. Only their hatred for the president matters; if it takes throwing you into a volcano, so be it.

The other new item that hit this week comes courtesy of a series of tweets offered up by former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. She started some buzz about possibly running as an independent candidate for president starting with this comment:

“In this country, we pledge allegiance to the flag, not the president. We swear fidelity to the Constitution, not the party. Our flag is a symbol of ‘one nation … Indivisible … With liberty and justice for all.’ “

After a few more tweets virtue signaling about her love for the U.S. Constitution, she got down to her actual point, “When did so many Republicans decide that we should also pledge allegiance to The Party and swear fidelity to President Trump? I’ve been called ‘disloyal’ because I am critical of Trump. I am not alone. Many others have been intimidated into silence or compelled to defend the indefensible. …”

She continued by patronizing the president’s supporters, implying they’re “fans” of a man who is doing the job we hired him to do and saving our futures.

As a former supporter of Ms. Fiorina, it’s disappointing to see her ignorance of what a grateful nation looks like. In some ways you can’t blame her, as it has been a very long time since the American people have put a president in office who didn’t change his persona or invent new promises depending on what he was running for.

Here’s a newsflash for Ms. Fiorina: The president’s supporters are excited because Mr. Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do. And despite constant haranguing, opposition and stall tactics by an increasingly bitter establishment that hopes he’ll fail, he remains relentless working to deliver on the promises he made to the American people.

Is Ms. Fiorina considering an independent run for the presidency? Jim Geraghty at National Review noted she is wealthy enough to self-finance, but then reminded us that she got 1.86 percent in the Iowa caucuses and 4.1 percent in the New Hampshire primary in 2016, adding “and it’s tougher to throw together a good presidential campaign at the last minute.”

If she did launch an independent campaign, it, too, would serve only to assist the Democrats. For those unable to come to grips with the fact that “deplorables” have had enough, in their mind it seems the cost of getting their revenge on Mr. Trump is worth it. You are to be that collateral damage. The good news is, they will fail again as we still have no intention of going into their dark night.

• Tammy Bruce, president of Independent Women’s Voice, author and Fox News contributor, is a radio talk-show host.

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