Conservative columnist thinks Rob Portman has done more to destroy the country than Taylor Greene ever will

Conservative Washington Post columnist Max Boot wrote in his Monday column that Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) has been far worse for America than Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) has.

Portman announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022 leaving two years for him to finalize whatever his legacy will be before being kicked out of office. Boot argued that the Ohio Senator has already cemented his impact on the country as he led other Republicans like him to "irrationality and authoritarianism."

"Portman is far more to blame than Greene," Boot explained. "That's because there are a lot more Portmans than Greenes in Congress. Greene's kookiness resonates with many GOP voters (30 percent of Republicans expressed a positive view of QAnon in a recent poll), but there are only a few House members who are as flaky as she is. However, the House and especially the Senate are full of Portman types: long-serving, mainstream Republicans who pride themselves on being practical problem-solvers — but who did not lift a finger to stop the takeover of their party by the lunatic fringe."

Boot recalled the brief moment when Portman showed he had the scruples to denounced former President Donald Trump after the "Access Hollywood" tape was revealed. After Trump won, however, Portman caved just as the rest of the GOP did. In Portman's case, he supported Trump on 88.3 percent of the legislation, higher than Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) or Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Now that public opinion has turned against Trump, Portman said that he has "respectfully" disagreed with Trump at least 50 times. "'Toothlessly' is more like it," said Boot. Portman stuck with Trump after he characterized Charlottesville white supremacists as "very fine people."

Instead, Boot said Portman "tut-tutted": "It was an opportunity to draw a very clear line and to say, that in this country, hatred and bigotry are condemned." Portman refused to call Trump a racist or act in any way to condemn his remarks.

"Portman often appeared to know that Trump was wrong — he just couldn't bring himself to do anything about it," Boot blamed.

In the case of Marjorie Taylor Greene, no one takes her seriously and she'll likely never be a respected member of Congress. She's one of 435 officials in Congress where Portman is one in 100. He's the chairman of the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight and Subcommittee on Investigations in the Homeland Security Committee. Portman has actual power and control in his party. Greene will be lucky to make it through the week without having been kicked off of her only committee.

Portman may have "admitted that Trump's attempt to blackmail Ukraine was 'wrong and inappropriate,'" Boot continued. "But he still voted against impeachment because he claimed it would be just too darn divisive to convict 'in the middle of a presidential election.'"

Now that Trump is out of office, Portman says that Trump can't be held accountable, constitutionally. Portman had previously called Trump's actions to incite the violent attack on the Capitol "inexcusable."

Boot noted that in an interview with the Dispatch the senator called the second impeachment trial a waste of time because "There's not going to be a conviction. We all know that," he said.

"Talk about a tautology," wrote Boot. "Of course, there won't be a conviction if middle-of-the-road Republicans such as Portman vote to acquit. But if Portman had the guts to impeach, others might follow suit and Trump might actually be convicted."

He closed by saying that one junior Republican maybe isn't powerful enough to stop Trump, but he never even tried, making him far more dangerous than the craziness of Greene.

Read the full column at the Washington Post. Washington Post.