When I first thought of taking the time to write up an article on this embattled freshman representative, my first question was, where do I even start?
Seriously, this man has had a lot of stories come out! The majority of his life seems to be mired in lies and it’s really hard to tell which side is up and how this will play out.
So, I figured I’d keep it simple and try to help you, the reader figure out, who is George Santos. Let’s get into it!
George Santos
George Santos is a Republican who was recently elected to the House of Representatives for New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
Where is New York’s 3rd Congressional District?
The district is located on Long Island and it takes up some of the North Shore parts of the island. Some of the cities in this district are; Oyster Bay Cove, Glen Cove, and Port Washington.
The district is considered one of the wealthiest in New York and in the nation.
How old is George Santos?
George Santos is 34 years old. He was born on July 22nd, 1988.
What is George Santos’ ethnicity?
This is a question that has to be asked, not for any kind of disrespectful reason, but because of lies surrounding the question.
He’s faced backlash from organizations for previous claims that he was of Jewish heritage and that in fact, his parents had escaped Nazi-occupied regions of Europe during World War II.
In an exclusive interview with the New York Post, he retracted those statements saying that he was “Jew-ish” and this is where backlash from Jewish Organizations comes from.
His parents are from Brazil and they emigrated to the United States in 1985. So, since his immediate family is Brazilian, his ethnic background would be a Brazilian heritage or Brazilian ethnic background.
Why is George Santos in trouble?
Let’s be clear, George Santos is currently “in trouble” for various lies about who he is, his work background, and various other lies that have surfaced prior to his being sworn into Congress.
While plenty of local institutions and even international governments have said they will start or re-open investigations into George Santos and his dealings, no charges of any kind have been filed. Forbes very neatly described all of his potential legal woes in a recent article, you can read it here.
Why are his lies such a big deal?
His lies are such a big deal because of their breadth and audacity. I won’t sugarcoat it, we all know that politicians lie but this is outside of what we as Americans are used to dealing with.
It’s one thing to lie about “lowering taxes” or “raising wages” or some other thing told to people to get votes.
This is a different beast altogether, we don’t even know who this guy really is! Is it “George Santos or Anthony Devolder“? I mean, it’s basic stuff that should be well-known and not come into question from a public official.
With that being said, some of his alleged lies would see him getting into trouble for fraud, theft, and campaign violations to name a few.
So, what are all of these lies to date?
George Santos’ many lies
When I was first thinking of this article, I wanted to write a list of all of his lies but that’s been done very, very well by New York Magazine’s Intelligencer and The Independent and others after the New York Times broke the story.
However, I’ll list out some of his most audacious, at least to me, below.
That he went to college
During his campaign for congress, he claimed to have degrees from NYU and Baruch College. Both schools confirmed that he had not attended either institution.
When the story broke, Mr. Santos confessed saying that he had fabricated going to those colleges to inflate his resume.
It’s one thing to say you are an “expert in excel” but lying about your college background is a whole other dimension!
That he worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs
Again, during his campaign and on his credentials, he claimed to have worked for these two very well-known banking institutions.
This would be impressive but again, that was a lie, and he himself has confessed to these lies and said instead that he worked with third-party organizations that had relationships with those companies, however, he has not provided any proof of such yet.
That he’s Jewish and that his grandparents fled the Holocaust
Various outlets have shown proof that George Santos presented himself as being Jewish or of Jewish heritage and that his grandparents fled the Holocaust.
However, after reports that this was a lie began to come out, he tried to save face on Fox News and insist that he hadn’t lied and that he’d said that he was “Jew-ish” which in itself is pretty darn insulting but I’ll leave it there.
His mom was in the South Tower during 9/11 and she’d died
As his lies couldn’t get any more disgusting, he made multiple claims that his mother had been working in the South Tower when it was struck by a plane on September 11th, 2001.
Arguably one of the nation’s worst days in its history. It’s maddening to think that he would use that day for cheap political points.
The New York Times was able to find documentation that his mother was in fact in Brazil because she wasn’t allowed back into the country! Her green card allegedly had been stolen.
Finally…
He allegedly stole 3K from a Homeless vet to save his dying dog
This one makes my blood boil the most, the other things are vile and horrible, however as a veteran myself, I don’t take kindly to the mistreatment of vets.
I know firsthand how difficult it is for veterans trying to make it out here in the civilian world, it’s no cakewalk, let me tell you, and to hear this story just makes me so angry.
Here’s the story, in 2016 a Marine Corps veteran’s organization put a homeless veteran, Richard Ostoff, in touch with “Anthony Devolder” AKA George Santos.
The details are unclear as to why someone at this organization reached out to “Anthony Devolder”.
However, shortly after that, introductions were made and Mr. Devolder started a GoFundMe for the homeless vet to pay for veterinarian bills for his dog, who had cancer.
The GoFundMe reached its target goal but a payout was never made to the homeless veteran, citing various reasons and the dog would later die as a result of non-treatment.
You can read the NPR article on the story here. All the details haven’t come to light as of yet but if it’s true, in my book, this makes George Santos a complete scumbag and I’d be very eager to hear what the “Troop supporting” GOP has to say about it.
Those are just a few of the lies that have come to light about Rep. George Santos, I wonder what else will come out?
Can George Santos be kicked out of Congress?
Yes, George Santos could be kicked out of Congress. To do so, it would require a two-thirds majority vote to do so.
While this has been done in the past, it’s been fewer than five members of congress and in today’s day and age, with the political climate we have, it could make it a difficult process.
So far, GOP leadership, Specifically Kevin McCarthy, has stayed silent on the matter. Saying things like “he was duly elected” etc. Which isn’t saying much, other than he doesn’t want to touch it, at least not yet.
We’ll just have to wait and see but according to recent polling, his constituents want him gone.
Key Takeaways
So, who is George Santos? He’s a liar, pure and simple.
My best guess is that he’s the type of person who was so angry with his life choices and social status that he had to fabricate every part of it to create some version of himself that he could be proud of.
The sad part is any one of us can achieve great things if we just try. We don’t have to lie our way to the top but Mr. Santos has and I think now, he’s seeing how far the “fall from grace” can actually be.