George Santos doesn’t want to be a cheater. His curriculum vitae, however, is largely bogus and false. The Republican seems like a driven man these days. Now a dog could bring him down.
Successful businessman on Wall Street. animal rights activists. Son of Brazilian immigrants who fled the Holocaust. This is how the Republican George Santos presented himself to his voters in the US state of New York – and he was convincing.
“Santos wants the American dream for everyone,” wrote a regional newspaper about the candidate shortly before the midterm elections. In the vote last November, the 34-year-old was finally elected as a member of the House of Representatives. A success-story. It’s just stupid that Santo’s biography is almost completely wrong. The absurd farce about the until recently completely unknown politician has become a problem for Republicans.
After winning the election, the “New York Times” published an investigation in December and came to the conclusion: university degree, career in big banks, family background – all made up. Since then, Santos has seemed driven when he is being followed by the capital’s press in Congress and avoids critical questions. For the great US comedians, Santos is a godsend, the deputy is now a laughing stock.
But Santos doesn’t want to hear anything about resignation. The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is not demanding that either. Because if the backbencher from New York gave up his mandate, their power could also crumble.
absurd stories
Santos’ story has occupied the United States for weeks – also because the details are so insane. Santos not only lied about a career, but also made up bizarre details, all of which have been debunked. He has claimed he was a volleyball star during his time at varsity – which he never went to. He claims to have lost four employees in the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Florida, which killed 49 people.
He said about his mother that she experienced the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 in the World Trade Center. However, records from the immigration authorities show that she was not in the United States at all at the time. There is also no evidence that his grandparents escaped from the Nazis.
Santos has now admitted to having “whitewashed” his resume. “I’m not a cheater. I’m not a swindler,” he insisted in a TV interview. But he can’t explain all the made-up stories. In the USA it is quite common to apply a little thicker. But Santos does more than that – so the 34-year-old is now facing legal consequences.
Investigators are already investigating several inconsistencies. Santos cannot explain where the $700,000 he used to fund his election campaign came from. The money is said to come from his private fortune. However, this does not match the sums that he has given as his income. According to media reports, Santos’ finances have meanwhile called the Justice Department into action.
Will a sick dog be his undoing?
These complex investigations could be lengthy. Not least because of this, the judiciary should now take a closer look at a much more banal story – a sick dog could be fatal to the 34-year-old. Investigators are reportedly investigating allegations that Santos embezzled money he raised online for a Marine veteran’s sick dog.
The FBI is said to have gotten involved. Specifically, it’s about $3,000 that Santos is said to have collected online for the homeless veteran in 2016 to pay for a life-saving operation for his terminally ill animal. The accusation is that Santos made off with the money.
According to polls, the vast majority of voters in his constituency are in favor of the Republican resigning. When asked about this, Santos was unimpressed: “I didn’t order a survey, so I’m not talking about a survey that I didn’t order.”
When asked by the Congressional press about the story about his mother, he only replies: “It is very insensitive that you keep mentioning my late mother.” But Santos drew a conclusion. At least temporarily, he is letting his two committee posts in Congress rest.
McCarthy stands behind Santos
Even as the pressure mounts, one person hasn’t stabbed Santos in the back: newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He stands behind him because the people in his constituency voted for Santos, the Republican said. However, he drew a red line: a resignation would be necessary if it could be proven that Santos broke the law. There is probably a simple reason why McCarthy is still sticking with Santos: the wafer-thin majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
How fragile this is became apparent when McCarthy was elected chairman of the parliamentary chamber for only the 15th time at the beginning of January. His party colleagues had previously denied him allegiance. Republicans only managed a slim majority of 222 seats in the midterm elections. The Democrats have 212 seats. So every vote counts for McCarthy – and Santos voted adamantly for McCarthy in the vote for chairman. But apart from possible guilt, Santos’ resignation could play into the hands of the Democrats.
Santos’ seat in the House of Representatives was previously held by a Democrat. And in the 2020 presidential election, the people in his constituency also voted for Democrat Joe Biden. Should Santos resign, it would lead to a new election. And it would by no means be certain that the seat would go to a Republican again. So McCarthy isn’t ready to drop Santos yet. It is unclear how much longer he can keep this up.