When Paul Ryan accepted the Republican Party’s nomination to serve as Mitt Romney’s running mate in the 2012 presidential election, he said, “I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power. ... Fear and division are all they’ve got left.”

And yet it is those exact words that define Ryan’s tenure as speaker of the House: “silent,” “desperate,” “fear” and “division.”

Joshua Green’s 2017 book, “A Devil’s Bargain,” recounts then-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon characterizing Ryan as a “limp-d***** motherf***** who was born in a petri dish at the Heritage Foundation.” Translation: He’s weak; someone who can be bullied into submission.

Turns out Bannon was spot-on.

Ryan’s legacy is that of a would-be leader who was afraid to use his voice to save the GOP from the fear and division of the alt-right. His silence enabled the hijacking of the party by a group of racist, homophobic and xenophobic extremists who could care less about traditional Republican and conservative orthodoxy.