The saga of Geroge Santos continues
We have all heard about the “resume embellishment” and the contradicting stories around his mother’s death as well as about his volleyball prowess, but despite catching Congressman George Santos in so many lies, he is still in office.
What does this say about the state of our government? And more importantly, what does it say about how people are voting? It is interesting to see that the North Shore Leader, the local newspaper in New York’s third district, wrote articles calling into doubt some of what Mr. Santos said on the campaign trail. The Leader even went as far as endorsing the “Democratic candidate, saying it wanted to support a Republican but that Mr. Santos ‘is so bizarre, unprincipled and sketchy that we cannot.’”
So why did Santos win with a 54% of the vote? It's due to more party-line voting, especially for those still believing the debunked lies regarding election fraud in the recent presidential election. This is a key point of why George Santos isn’t funny. Not only was Santos able to run while telling lies, but he was also able to win elections by targeting a select audience. Unfortunately, even the speaker of the house hesitating on the decision for him to be removed highlights the fact that someone who lies their way into political roles can secure and maintain their position.
The amazing part is that Santos continues to lie and seems to ignore the fact that he keeps getting caught. Following his run-in with Senator Mitt Romney at the State of the Union address, he claimed that “Kyrsten Sinema told him to 'hang in there.'” but CNN reports that her office says that’s a 'lie.' At this point, Santos is starting to lie about things with zero relevance to anything and people are starting to take notice. Now his own party is pointing out lies. According to a survey from Newsday and Siena College “A total of 78% of voters in the Nassau County and Queens district want the 34-year-old GOP lawmaker to resign, including 89% of Democrats, 72% of independents and 71% of Republicans.” In fact, his office in Washington DC is regularly protested by people from his district. Despite the recognition of these lies and since there is no call for his resignation from Republican congressional leadership, it looks like at least the people within his district have had enough.
How can he represent the people of his district if they don’t trust him or want him in office by a vast majority? This is a big question for him, especially since he must now declare if he is running in the next election. This decision is important as it impacts if he can raise money and how he spends it. The financing of his last election has already been called into question and there is an ethics committee investigation.
Sources:
Picture: https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/poll-78-santos-voters-want-resign-rcna68349
Articles: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/01/17/george-santos-is-the-congressman-america-deserves
-https://nypost.com/2023/01/31/poll-78-of-george-santos-constituents-say-he-should-resign/
-https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64587233
-https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/10/politics/fec-george-santos-campaign-fundraising/index.html
4 comments:
Donald Trump's greatest contribution to the American government was the apparent disregard much of the GOP has for truth. I find it hilarious how a representative can be caught red-handed in multiple lies and all they have to say is "nuh-uh". Everyday, Congress gets more and more like an SNL skit. I doubt Santos has much of a career left but he will forever be remembered by me, his #1 fan.
It's disheartening to me that we don't live in a perfect world where lying to benefit your political career (or, in Santos' case, lying both for your own benefit and for funzies) is met with consequences. I don't think we were ever quite there in terms of politics, but the slow descent of the GOP into madness has simultaneously been entertaining to watch and scary. It's easy to laugh at clips of Santos on Twitter, but I think the harder truth to confront is the fact that these people, who clearly do not have the interest of their constituents let alone the country at heart, are on House committees and have actual political influence. Regardless of how people view him online and from the other side of the political spectrum, Santos has made a fast friend of Marjorie Taylor Green, who despite her ridiculousness has actual political clout to spare and share. Eugh.
I agree with Lucas. It's so laughable how someone could be so stubborn even when they are caught red-handed. However, even when the situation is so funny, it's important to not forget that Santos is simply a fraud. I think it's unfortunate that someone who fabricated his entire success story is a member of the House of Reps, someone who has the ability to vote for federal laws, and someone who was appointed by the GOP Leadership to two committees in the chamber. Now, apparently, he also has accusations against him for his online jokes about Hitler, 'the Jews and blacks.' I don't quite understand how a fraud managed to get elected, and I am even more disappointed to know that he won't be met with consequences.
George Santos basically fabricated much of his life history and resume, and used that to run for Congress in a highly contested seat, and no one seemed to notice until after he won. I’m still baffled how no one figured out this guy was a total fraud. Did nobody ever investigate his background, and I mean not only his own party, but the Democrats he was running against? Did no one even do a cursory check on him and his long list of claims about his life? Now his constituents are stuck with a serial liar and fraud to represent them until the next election. They are not happy, but there are no recalls for congress, and while he can be stripped for committee memberships, investigated by the ethics committee, etc., they can not really kick him out of Congress unless he decides to resign, which does not seem likely. One would think he would surely lose the next election, but will no doubt be a distraction until that time. The reluctance of the Republican leadership in congress to come down too hard on him seems to stem from the razor thin margin they have where every vote counts, even the vote of a fraud like him. Having some important vote coming down to what he thinks is something which should make all of us pause. He will undoubtedly give media interviews and spin some new story each time, and continue to get press coverage and be a spectacle all the way to the next election, after which he will move on to his next act, whatever that may be.
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