Comical headlines from the leftstream media that treat Joe Walsh and the other would-be primary challengers as serious candidates are an attempt to concern-troll Republicans into supporting them. 

That's not going to happen.  President Trump enjoys a Reaganesque 90-plus-percent approval rating among Republicans, and any support given to a challenger only serves the purpose of helping elect a socialist. 

The brutally terrible Walsh is the Republican equivalent of Bill de Blasio, a candidate so bad that no sane person takes him seriously, but CNN trumpets that he could "make some real trouble for Donald Trump" as MSNBC compliments him on the "soul-searching" he has done.

Political parties don't reward ego-driven vanity projects whose only real measure of success would be a victory by the other party.  Trump's Republican support, to the eternal dismay of the media and their NeverTrump allies, runs deep and cannot be picked off by any challenger.

The fact that these NeverTrump Republicans are so eager for a few insincere media head pats that they would attempt something so destructive to their party and country is embarrassing.  It's as if they were puppies jumping up and down with the hopes of being praised by the likes of CNN and MSNBC.

Their only purpose is to serve as useful idiots who can be trotted out in support of the liberal attack machine.  In their increasing desperation for relevance, far too many of them embrace this role, unhappy that they aren't the "chosen ones" to speak for Republicans or to Republicans.  No amount of pretentious and unreadable columns by the George Wills and Bill Kristols of this world will change that.

The same media who ignored all primary challengers to President Obama before his second term are giving barrels of ink and airtime to people they would despise but for the fact they are collaborating to destroy this president. 

Under normal circumstances, no Republican is too liberal to be hated by the media.  But when Republicans can be of use, the media champion them.  The media loved the late Senator John McCain when he was a frequent critic of fellow Republicans right up until he challenged a Democrat, when he transformed overnight from the loveable maverick to a psychotic crazy man with anger management issues.  Too many Republican politicians and pundits are blind to this game.

Responding to crazed MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, "Tea Party conservative" Walsh intoned, "I'd rather sit down at a table with Elizabeth Warren and talk about free college tuition" than support Trump.  He really worked hard to earn his Wallace head pat for that gem.

No president should be above criticism, but it would be nice if that criticism made sense and came from a conservative perspective vice being a gleeful leap onto the liberal bandwagon.

When President Obama ran for re-election in 2012, the media barely noticed the multiple primary challengers.  A federal inmate actually won 41% of the vote against Obama in West Virginia.  An attorney won 42% of the primary vote in Arkansas.  Despite having challengers on the ballot in only eight states, Obama's performance in that primary was bad, the worst since the 1992 contested Republican primary.  Obama's historically poor performance warranted less media coverage than a local jelly bean–eating contest.     

Even accounting for crossover-Democrat chicanery and blue-state ballot games, these Republican challengers don't have a prayer of duplicating this feat.  But they are lauded as great men of courage and virtue by the media, who treat it all as a major national story.     

So why is President Trump's support so deep among Republicans?  

For starters, he ended the political career of a corrupt and wicked politician in one of history's greatest political upsets.  That's one heck of a warm-up act.  And it just got better from there.  Let us count the ways that President Trump has earned Republican support.  He:

• Has been arguably the most pro-life president we've elected.
• Understands the importance of securing our borders to maintain America as a sovereign country and is moving public opinion on this critical issue.
• Has been the most pro-Israel president, standing by this key ally despite intense pressure and the rising tide of anti-Semitism masked as anti-Zionism.
• Has nominated the best slate of Constitution-respecting judges at all levels, restoring sanity to federal courts and reversing years of liberal court-packing. 
• Has cut taxes and smashed regulations to unleash the U.S. economy to improve American lives.
• Has exposed the liberal media machine, greatly increasing Americans' understanding of media bias while turning CNN and the New York Times into punchlines.
• Punctured the growing corrosive effect and power of political correctness.
• Refused to buckle despite being under tremendous pressure to gut our Second Amendment rights.
• Has pointed out Democrat corruption that has damaged the lives of minority Americans while seeking to improve the lives of all Americans.
• Has actively promoted and defended America's interest on the global stage instead of making them subservient to toxic global interests, such as the climate change crusade that is so unconvincing that even the Obamas dropped $15 million on a beautiful carbon footprint, complete with multiple swimming pools.
• Understood that China was waging economic war on the U.S. and took up the mantle of leadership to challenge and defeat the Chinese, significantly decreasing the likelihood of military conflict between the nations.
• Taught Republicans the importance of fighting back against the liberal hate machine.

He accomplished all this despite being hamstrung by the fraudulent Russia investigation and attempted administrative coup.  For any single item on this list, he has earned my vote.  Taken as a whole, it is difficult to understand how NeverTrump Republicans still exist. 

The contrast between the current president and his predecessor were on full display this week.  When President Trump goes overseas to a gathering of nations, he is far less interested in the photo ops and perks than in actively promoting and defending America's interests, a refreshing change.

Around the time of the election, Dr. Larry Arnn, the fantastic president of Hillsdale College, explained his support for Trump.

"People said to me, 'You love Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, how can you support Trump?' I said, 'I didn't know they were in the race.'"

He recognized that a U.S. presidential election is a binary choice.  Anything you do to hurt one candidate helps the other one by default, and the idea that Clinton was ever preferable to Trump was lunacy.  An eight-year Clinton presidency would have irrecoverably changed the character of America.

The same dynamic is still in place.  Any would-be Walshes who entertain the idea that Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders would be preferable to Donald Trump are a lost cause.

But that is no longer the point.  Plenty of conservatives were reluctant initial supporters, voting as much against Clinton as for Trump due to a host of concerns.  But, we now have a three-year track record, and anyone who has been paying attention should break the voting lever in 2020 with enthusiasm.

Trump may one day be regarded with the same respect that conservatives reserve for Ronald Reagan.  In thirty years, young conservatives may wear Trump/Pence 2020 shirts to the polls alongside the Reagan/Bush 84 ones they wear now.

Author's credit:  Fletch Daniels blogs at deplorabletouchdown.com and can be found on twitter @fletchdaniels.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.