George Santos

George Anthony Devolder Santos (born July 22, 1988) is an American former politician from the state of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Santos was elected in 2022 to represent New York's 3rd congressional district, which covers part of northern Long Island and northeast Queens, after having unsuccessfully contested the seat two years earlier.

George Santos in 2022

Six weeks after he was elected, The New York Times and other news outlets reported that most of Santos' autobiographical claims appear to be fabricated, including claims about his ancestry, education, employment, charity work, and property ownership. He claimed that his mother's parents were Ukrainian Jews who fled from the Holocaust to Brazil, yet records obtained by several sources showed that his mother's parents were born in Brazil and none of her ancestors were Ukrainian or Jewish. There have been several judgments against Santos in eviction and personal debt cases in the United States, and he has confessed to check fraud charges (which he now denies) in Brazil. Seven weeks after he was elected, Santos admitted to lying about his educational and employment history.

On December 1, 2023, Santos was expelled by a vote of the House. The expulsion was the sixth in the history of the House, and the first since 2002.

Quotes

• I was at the Ellipse on January 6th. That was the most amazing crowd, and the president was at his full awesomeness that day, it was a front row spectacle for me.
  • "The Right View with Lara Trump, Bernie Kerik, and George Santos!" YouTube (February 18, 2021)
• All of us in this room can agree that when we look at slavery, it was barbaric. Fifty years from now, we’re going to look back at what we’re doing in this country and we are going to say ‘we killed babies out of the womb? We aborted our own? That is barbaric.'
  • Cited by Denis Slattery in "Long Island Congressional candidate George Santos compared reproductive rights to slavery" New York Daily News (September 11, 2022)
• I'm a gay married man, I am openly gay, have never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade, and I can tell you and assure you, I will always be an advocate for LGBTQ folks.
  • "First congressional race between two gay nominees marks progress for LGBTQ candidates" USA Today (October 29, 2022)
• My grandfather fleeing Ukraine in 1920s to Belgium, and fleeing Belgium to Brazil in 1940. It's a story of survival, of tenacity, of grit, as we like to call it. My mother migrated to the United States in search of the American Dream, as I said today, I am her American Dream.
  • "Representative-Elect George Santos Speaks at Republican Jewish Coalition" C-SPAN (November 19, 2022)
• 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.
  • "Congressman Elect Santos Breaks His Silence" WABC (December 27, 2022)
• I am not a criminal. Not here, not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world have I ever committed any crimes.
  • Cited by Kyle Blaine in "Rep.-elect George Santos admits to lying about bio, but says he still intends to serve in Congress" CNN (December 27, 2022)
• I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was Jew-ish.
  • Cited by Alexandra Petri in "I am George Santos, and I would never lie to you" The Washington Post (December 28, 2022)
• The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or "performed" as a drag Queen is categorically false. The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life while I am working to deliver results. I will not be distracted nor fazed by this.
  • George Santos (@MrSantosNY) on Twitter (January 19, 2023)
• No, I was not a drag queen in Brazil, guys. I was young and I had fun at a festival. Sue me for having a life.
  • "Santos doesn’t appear to contest authenticity of resurfaced drag photo: ‘I had fun at a festival’" CNN (January 22, 2023)
• Well guess what? Rosa Parks didn't sit in the back and neither am I going to sit in the back.
  • Cited by Martin Pengelly in "Republican fabulist George Santos compares himself to Rosa Parks" The Guardian (July 9, 2023)
• Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place.
  • "George Santos Is Kicked Out of Congress in a Historic Vote" The New York Times (December 1, 2023)
• The future is endless, you just never know. You can do whatever you want next, and I’m just going to do whatever I want.
  • "Rep. George Santos News Conference on Expulsion Resolution" C-SPAN (December 1, 2023)

Quotes about Santos

• He’s disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople. Today, on behalf of the Nassau County Republican Committee, I am calling for his immediate resignation.
  • Joseph Cairo, cited in "George Santos Faces Calls to Resign From 4 G.O.P. Congressmen" The New York Times (January 11, 2023)
• He's a terrible human being. He does not deserve to be in the House of Representatives. He deserves to be in a federal prison. And I think the issue of expulsion is going to be something that a lot of my colleagues are going to talk about.
  • Nick LaLota, cited in "Inside House Republicans' big day" Punchbowl News (October 11, 2023)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on George Santos on Wikipedia
• Media related to George Santos on Wikimedia Commons
• George Santos for Congress
• @MrSantosNY on Twitter
• @RepSantosNY03 on Twitter