GOP Rep. George Santos (N.Y), who is facing calls to resign amid backlash for lying about his professional, personal and religious background during last year’s campaign, insists he has lived “an honest life”.
“I came here to serve the people, not politicians and party leaders, and I’m going to do just that,” Santos told Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast Thursday.
“I’ve worked my entire life, I’ve lived an honest life, I’ve never been accused, sued of any bad doings,” Santos added.
Santos admitted to lying about his résumé while running for office. He claims to have graduated from Baruch College, is Jewish and worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
Santos is under investigation by federal and state prosecutors to determine if his lies broke any laws. Prosecutors in Brazil are also reviving a 2008 criminal fraud case against him.
Santos’ comments come one day after Republicans in New York called for his resignation.
“George Santos’ campaign last year, was a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication. He deceived the voters of the 3rd Congressional District. He deceived the members of the Nassau County Republican Committee, elected officials, his colleagues, candidates, his opponents and even some of the media,” Nassau County GOP Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo, Jr. said.
“He has no place in the Nassau County Republican Committee, nor should he serve in public service, nor as an elected official,” Cairo added. “He is not welcomed here at Republican headquarters, for meetings or any other events…we do not consider him one of our congress people. Today, on behalf of the Nassau County Republican Committee, I am calling him for his immediate resignation.”
Republican New York Reps. Nick Langworthy and Anthony D’Esposito, also called on Santos to step down.
Santos has said he will not resign.
“I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living,” he tweeted on Wednesday. “I will NOT resign!”
He doubled down on Thursday, telling reporters that he will resign when “142 people” ask him to. He later clarified that he was referring to the more than 142,000 people who voted for him in the 2022 midterms to flip the seat.
