‘Most wicked to ever represent Cleveland’: Jim Jordan ripped by hometown paper for covering up sex scandal

President Trump likes to call his enemies 'sleaze bags" and Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan a "warrior," but according to Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Brent Larkin, Trump has it backward.

While Jordan may not seem like the worst politician to ever come out of Ohio, the "crimes" he's committed "don't involve felonies," according to Larkin. "They are crimes against America, crimes involving total disregard for the principles of democracy, trampling the truth on behalf of a corrupt president who revels in his inhumanity."

Watching Jordan question witnesses during the House impeachment inquiry particularly incensed Larkin, who writes that it was like watching a man who "spent his childhood gleefully ripping wings off flies."

"After Jordan’s career reaches its merciful conclusion, my belief is he will come to be remembered as the most wicked human being ever to represent Greater Cleveland in Congress," Larkin writes, adding that when it comes to Trump, however, Jordan "checks all the right boxes." But it's Jordan's "ethical baggage" that threatens his potential 2024 presidential run -- particularly his alleged role in covering up for a sexual predator during his time as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.

Jordan denies his role in the scandal --  a tactic that's right out of "Trump's playbook."

"Trump brings out the worst in people because his only way to win re-election is to tear the country apart," Larkin concludes. "No one is more devoted to Trump’s cause than Jim Jordan."

Read the full op-ed over at Cleveland.com.