Move over, Donald Trump. The Republican Party has a new ‘Liar-In-Chief’ and his name is George Santos.
Politics :
“Liar, Liar, pants on fire” is the phrase many are using to describe GOP Congressman-elect George Santos of New York, who lied his way into winning the November 2022 midterm election and is about to face the consequences. The 34-year-old openly gay Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman and won New York’s 3rd congressional district (a sliver of northeast Queens and parts of Long Island’s North Shore) under dastardly dishonest terms.
“I think he is the textbook definition of a con artist,” former roommate Gregory Morey said of Santos during an interview on INSIDE EDITION last week. His description of Washington’s newest politician appears extremely spot-on.
In order to convince voters to cast their ballots for him, George Santos outright lied about his resume, background, qualifications, religion, ethnicity, and more.
Santos bragged that he graduated from the prestigious Horace Mann School in the Bronx and then went on to receive a degree in economics and finance from Baruch College in 2010.
He did not — and administrators from both schools have since come forward with proof that he never attended either institution.
Santos billed himself as a “seasoned Wall Street financier and investor” and claimed he worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
He never did — and has since admitted he “never worked directly” with either of the financial institutions.
Santos said he is “biracial” (half Black and Caucasian), then said he is Jewish.
Neither turned out to be true. In fact, Santos eventually said we all simply misunderstood him and that he never said he is Jewish, but rather Jew-“ish” (as in somewhat Jewish).
Additional lies include claims that he owns 13 rental properties where tenants had not paid rent for a year, that he was the “grandson of Holocaust refugees,” that his mother died in the 9/11 World Trade Center attack, that 4 of his employees died in the Pulse Gay Nightclub massacre in Orlando, that he survived a brain tumor, that he was the founder of a tax-exempt animal rights group and countless other fabrications.
Sadly, it was ALL a lie. Sadly, it was enough to get him elected to Congress.
9/11 claimed my mothers life… so I’m blocking so I don’t ever have to read this again.
— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) July 13, 2021
“I am not a criminal. Not here, not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world have I ever committed any crimes,” Santos said in his defense during a recent interview.
“To get down to the nit and gritty, I’m not a fraud. I’m not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character and ran for Congress. I’ve been around a long time. I mean, a lot of people know me. They know who I am. They’ve done business dealings with me,” he added.
“I’m not going to make excuses for this, but a lot of people overstate in their resumes, or twist a little bit. … I’m not saying I’m not guilty of that,” he concluded while attempting to diminish his lies as a simple embellishment that everyone does.
Now, his November opponent is demanding an election do-over. However, there is no legal precedent that will permit voters to rescind their earlier votes.
This means that Congress has no other alternative but to seat George Santos. However, just because they have to seat him doesn’t mean they have to keep him.
As of last week, the US attorney in Brooklyn, the NY state attorney general, the Nassau County district attorney (who is a Republican), as well as multiple law enforcement agencies have each launched investigations into George Santos and his questionable background. They are looking into the possibility that he skirted campaign finance laws and are questioning where he got the hundreds of thousands of dollars he personally lent to his campaign.
Oh, and remember when Santos said “I am not a criminal. Not here, not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world?”
Well, officials in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil beg to differ and intend to reopen a case from 2008 involving Santos and a stolen checkbook he fraudulently used to buy himself clothes and more. The case had gone cold for more than a decade because he fled the country and officials couldn’t find him. However, now that he’s back out in the open and sitting brazenly in the US Congress, police in Brazil are ready to charge him for his crooked ways.
“He used to say he would get money from Citigroup, he was an investor. One day it’s one thing, one day it’s another thing. He never ever actually went to work.”
– Pedro Vilarva, former boyfriend
Democratic and Republican members of Congress have already begun reviewing their options regarding Santos. The prediction is that his tenure on Capitol Hill won’t be the pleasant and easy-going ride he expected.
On Tuesday during his first day in the House, Santos was repeatedly hit with hardball questions about his lies every time he encountered a member of the press in the corridors of Congress — and it’s never going to stop. One of his Republican colleagues shouted “liar” at him on the House floor. He could be blocked from committee assignments by the GOP and effectively told to “sit in the corner” and remain silent. He might even be sanctioned or expelled, although that’s a long shot considering Republicans are now in the (very slim) majority.
“This is troubling in so many ways. Certainly, he’s lied repeatedly. He certainly is going to have to consider resigning,” said GOP Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas.
For his part, Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York introduced the SANTOS Act — designed to punish any member of Congress who lies under oath about their employment, military service, or education.
Rep. Ritchie purposely labeled his legislation an acronym that stands for Stop Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker (SANTOS, i.e. George Santos).
Granted, George Santos may be sitting in the halls of Congress today, but his future is far from certain and he could soon find himself expelled, in jail, or both.
Stay tuned…
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
George Santos is the new GOP liar.
AP: George Santos got a taste of what his time in Congress will be like when he arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday ahead of the vote for Speaker of the House. Santos remained awkwardly silent as he made his way to his office and multiple reporters inquired about whether he’ll serve a full term, how his constituents can trust him, and whether he thinks he’s qualified to serve in the new Congress. Santos won his congressional election in New York, but is facing backlash and calls for his resignation from both Democrats and fellow Republicans for seemingly fabricating a majority of his background, from his education to his work history. ABC News reporter Lalee Ibssa was one of multiple reporters to catch Santos on Tuesday. The Republican ignored Ibssa’s repeated questions while making his way through the halls, occasionally distracting himself with his phone. Santos is wearing a backpack… Read more »