House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) does not believe Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y) should resign after he admitted to lying about his résumé and is under criminal investigation.
“I try to stick by the Constitution. The voters elected him to serve. If there is a concern, and he has to go through the Ethics, let him move through that,” McCarthy said.
“It’s the voters who made that decision. He has to answer to the voters and the voters to make another decision in two years,” he added. “He is going to have to build the trust here and he’s going to have the opportunity to try to do that.”
McCarthy’s comments come as Republicans in New York called for Santos’ resignation earlier on Wednesday.
Santos has admitted to lying about his educational, professional and religious background. The freshman GOP lawmaker is also under investigation by prosecutors at the federal level, in New York State and in Brazil for check fraud.
“In America today, you’re innocent ‘till proven guilty. So, just because somebody doesn’t like the press you have, it’s not me that can over-say what the voters say,” McCarthy said. “If there is something that rises to the occasion that he did something wrong, then we’ll deal with that at that time.”
[Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images]
