Rob Portman talks Trump, Dr. Fauci, donating salary and helping Ohio companies fight coronavirus

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman hasn't been holding daily press conferences to update Ohioans on the novel coronavirus, but the Greater Cincinnati Republican has been doing critical work to help fight the pandemic.

Portman has President Trump's ear, a relationship that's helped major Ohio companies quickly clear bureaucratic hurdles in efforts to make and receive critical products to combat the novel coronavirus, both locally and nationwide. Among the companies Portman is helping: Procter & Gamble, Cardinal Health and GOJO Industries (maker of Purell hand sanitizer).

Does Trump and his administration return Portman's calls if he'd have voted against the president on impeachment a few months ago? 

It's question Portman was as a guest his week on The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. 

Here's a look at some of the topics Portman discussed on the podcast:

Phone call with Trump

Portman said he talked on the phone with President Trump on Wednesday, in part, about helping Central Ohio-based Cardinal Health to receive federal approval of the companies donation of the 2 million hospital gowns to the national stockpile of personal protective equipment.

In his afternoon press conference that day, Trump praised Portman for working with the administration on behalf of Cardinal Health. 

Asked whether that happens if Portman had voted to impeach the president, Ohio's junior senator said: "There’s no question it’s useful to have a constructive working relationship with the administration. On the impeachment thing, I didn’t think the issue rose to that level of high crimes. I didn’t think the American people should be told, ‘This guy’s out of here. You don’t have a chance to vote for him one way or the other', because we were in the middle of an election – and still are. I just don’t think in that case, it was the right thing to do."

Portman added: "But if I had gone the other way, it’d be very hard to have the kind of relationship you want to have. You try to be constructive and you try to be respectful. You kind of choose your battles. My job is to represent Ohio and get things done. It’s not to give speeches and get on cable TV and throw out the red meat. That's not the job you’re hired to do as an elected official."

Respect for Dr. Fauci

Portman had been regularly attending Dr. Anthony Fauci's briefings on the coronavirus while the Senate was in session. Portman had a chance to talk with the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases after one of the sessions. 

"I went up to him afterwards and said, ‘You know, I’m praying for you,' " Portman said. "He kind of looked at me. I don’t think he’d heard that from many people. I said, ‘Because you’re so re-assuring. You are so capable with your experience and your knowledge and your style.' He’s just calm. He gives you a sense of confidence. ... He made the point to me early on, ‘Rob, we gotta have the ability to know what’s going on by having more testing.' "

Helping P&G 

Portman has been in contact with Procter & Gamble CEO David Taylor. They've talked about what role the Cincinnati-based company can play in manufacturing products to help fight the virus. The company is making and donating face masks.

Said Portman: "Procter & Gamble is making some hand sanitizer in Ohio, their Lima plant. They’re also looking at other ways to help. I’m not sure they’ve announced it yet. I think they’d like to look at everything – ventilators, face masks. They just want to be sure they’re able to produce it and produce it in volumes and make sure it’s something that’s needed. So they’re looking partly to people like me to help find out from the feds what are the priorities here."

Donating $29,000

Portman is donating his Senate paychecks in April and May to five organizations across Ohio that are helping with coronavirus relief. His annual salary is $174,000, meaning he's giving up $29,000.

"It’s a token amount," Portman said. "I just wanted to do something small to help. Mostly, I did because I was starting to hear from people, including friends of mine, who have lost their jobs. A lot of people are suffering right now, and I’m in a position to be able to do it."

Find out more about Portman's role in fighting coronavirus and how he's personally handling by clicking the Audioboom link at the top to listen to the full That's So Cincinnati episode for free.

You can also subscribe and listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most other listening platforms.  

Portman's interview begins at the 28:30 mark of the episode.