Disgraced Former Congressman George Santos Announces New Run for Office

The most recent Congress has been full of scandals and drama, and the fight over the Speaker of the House position is only the tip of the iceberg. One congressman out of New York made headlines for himself for his flashy antics, and it appears that he won’t be leaving the news cycle anytime soon.

Santos Wins in 2022

George Santos is a congressman who once represented New York’s 3rd Congressional district. This is a district that voted heavily in favor of former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, and it’s understandable that it swung in favor of a Republican that election cycle.

Santos is a man in his 30’s, and painted himself as one of the more progressive members of the Republican caucus after he won his election. He’s an immigrant, a gay man and married, and went into Congress with the apparent goal of bringing together the more conservative and progressive wings of the Republican conference.

Then the Lies Began

Shortly after Santos entered Congress, though, it became clear that not only was the Republican not everything that he had painted himself out to be, but he wasn’t anything that he painted himself to be. Over weeks and months, Santos revealed himself to be a serial liar of the highest order, with hardly a statement leaving his mouth that couldn’t be rebutted in some way, shape, or form.

Santos lied about everything, from his history to what donor funds were going to be spent on. He claimed in a 2021 campaign video that his “grandparents had survived the holocaust,” digging in his heels in an interview several months later where he said, “I’m very proud of my grandparents’ story.”

Claims that His Mother was at 9/11

His grandparents are not the only family members who Santos has exploited in his quest for notoriety, either. Santos’ campaign website claimed that his mother “was in her office in the South Tower on September 11,” adding that she passed away later as a result of a battle with cancer.

Santos’ wild claim that his mother developed cancer as a result of the toxic fumes that permeated the Twin Towers during 9/11 is outlandish, and entirely untrue. Public documents revealed that Santos’ mother was, in fact, in Brazil at the time of the 9/11 terror attacks.

An Alleged History of Cross-Dressing

Santos’ personal life has found itself on the public stage due to his excessive lies, as well. One of the more salacious parts of his past that came to light during his campaign and his short-lived term in Congress is his alleged history of cross-dressing, which Santos ultimately admitted to.

In the beginning, Santos tried to shoot down reports of a past where he cross-dressed, despite photos that emerged that were taken in 2008 that revealed Santos dressed in women’s clothing. Santos ultimately admitted to the fact that he had, once upon a time, dressed in women’s clothing, but denied that he was a formal drag queen, as many media outlets tried to paint him.

Lying about his Identity?

The lies that Santos has told come down even to his very name. While the congressman goes under the name of George Santos in political life, past associates of his have called him Tony, and claimed that they knew him under the name of Anthony Devolder.

All of these lies would be reason enough to cast suspicion on the former congressperson, but ultimately, they weren’t what he was removed from Congress for. Santos was ultimately removed by the Republican conference due to crimes that Santos has been federally indicted on multiple charges of campaign finance fraud.

The First Republican to be Expelled

George Santos made history as the first Republican to be expelled from the House of Representatives, and is only the sixth member of Congress who has ever been expelled from the House of Representatives. He’s also the first member who has been expelled without having been previously convicted of a crime or having fought for the Confederacy.

Some of the charges that Santos was indicted for include money laundering and campaign fraud, and the amount of money that it has been alleged that he stole from campaign donors numbers in the tens of thousands. The shameless violation of campaign finance law is ultimately what got Santos caught, and forced his expulsion from Congress.

Living in the Public Eye

Leaving Congress was not the last that was heard of George Santos, though. Beyond the criminal charges that are still proceeding against him, Santos has started making his way across media circuits, trying to tell his story and drum up continued support for his self-induced plight.

Santos has spoken to Tucker Carlson and other far-right conservative news outlets, but one of the most famous interviews that he’s done recently has been with Ziwe Fumudoh, a comedian who is known for her witty and blunt interviews with various celebrities, where she pulls no punches.

An Abrasive Interview with Ziwe

The Ziwe interview spanned 17 minutes, and the barbs that she exchanged with Santos were stunning. Santos held his own against Ziwe for most of the interview, but seemed to stumble a little when she asked him questions like, “What can we do to get you to go away?”

He responded, “Stop inviting me to your gigs.” Then he continued, “But you can’t, because people want the content.” And unfortunately, he’s right. Since leaving Congress, Santos has skyrocketed to public notoriety in a big way; he’s created a private channel on X, formerly known as Twitter, and has promised to share scandalous secrets about his former colleagues in Congress.

Santos Announcing a Second Run

Even the charges against him don’t seem to be enough to stop Santos in his tracks, because the former Congressman has officially announced that he will be making a bid for Congress, yet again.

There’s nothing in the law that states that a Congressperson who’s been expelled from Congress can’t run for their seat again. In fact, it was one of the concerns of many people ahead of the special election for the 3rd district seat, who pointed out that without a strong Democratic contender, it was entirely possible that Santos could reclaim is spot in Congress.

The 3rd District Flipped

The seat was claimed by Tom Suozzi in that special election, a moderate Democrat who formerly held the seat that had been won by Santos. He won by a significant margin over the Republican candidate, and has used that victory as a campaigning tactic for reelection this fall.

In Suozzi’s words, his win over the Republicans in the special election – which historically have very low turnout rates – signals the American people’s desire to bring things back to center. Santos was a symbol of the progression of the far-right in Congress, and Suozzi taking the seat shows that people want a more moderate viewpoint in government.

Santos Announcing During the State of the Union

Santos’ announcement that he will be running for Congress again came in the midst of the State of the Union speech. In a post on X, he wrote that he “made several personal sacrifices in the name of serving the American people” and said that he “will never back down because of my love for this country.

Santos is not running for the seat that he formerly held in New York’s 3rd district, though. Instead, he’s running against an incumbent Republican in New York’s 1st district, Nick LaLota, who is a first-term congressman. The district is considered a “likely Republican” seat according to the Cook Political Report, making this a safe challenge for Republicans.

Scandal Following Santos

Santos’ political aspirations will continue to be marked by scandal, as the 23 federal indictments against him are still ongoing. Lying to the Federal Election Commission and being charged with identity theft don’t make for a trustworthy candidate, and Santos may be out of his depth when considering his wide-ranging appeal.

It’s also entirely possible that his campaign will end up dead in the water due to the Ethics report which revealed how he lied to former campaign donors and misused campaign funds. Politics is a money game in America, and though Santos might think that scandal is the ticket to the vote, if he can’t convince people to donate to his campaign, it may ultimately be a moot point.

New Yorkers on High Alert

The state of Santos’ ongoing political career is a train wreck that the American people will be watching closely. While it’s not terribly likely that he’ll win a seat in Congress again after his history, nothing is out of the range of possibility.

In the meantime, all that New Yorkers can do is wait, and watch. Santos has claimed the support of some significant figures in politics, including former President Donald Trump, which may be enough to get him across the finish line for another term in Congress. If he does make it back to Capitol Hill, though, it’s likely that the lies of George Santos have only just begun.