Rep. George Santos credits lying for getting Nassau County GOP nomination for Congress
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Congressman George Santos said he, "would have never gotten the nomination from the Nassau County GOP" if he had not lied about his college education, but otherwise maintained he did not run "a campaign of deceit and deception," in a Newsmax interview Thursday night.
"I would have never gotten the nomination from the Nassau County GOP if I had not concluded college," Santos said. "That was really the main driver, because of the way of the nature of their politics over there. It's just plain and simple, right. So I made that bad decision."
The newly elected representative for New York's 3rd District hopes people will move on and forgive him for lying about his education, his marriage, his work experience, his family ties to 9/11 and the Holocaust.
"To say I deceived, and there was a campaign of deceit and deception, is just not fair. That's just the political spin that the Nassau County GOP wants to create on this narrative. As you know, New York politics, it's pretty simple. The party bosses run the narrative and everyone follows suit and this is what's going on at the moment," he said.
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Santos said he did what he needed to do to get elected and and lied about his degrees from Baruch and NYU.
"Here's the reality. I'm human and I've made mistakes. I've made peace with those mistakes, and I've come clean on those mistakes," Santos said in the interview.
Santos said he is now busy working for his constituents, but the governor of New York isn't even bothering to work with him.
"I want him gone, I didn't invite him to my bipartisan meeting because I didn't think it wouldn't be productive, and also he's not on any committee," Gov. Kathy Hochul said. "He's a huge distraction for our state."
Santos also dismissed calls from members of his own party on Long Island to step down.
But, it's not just representatives from New York that want Santos out. He is also facing a measure from Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) to permanently remove him from the House.
Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, from New York, joined as sponsors of the resolution, which the lawmakers said will be referred to the Ethics Committee.
RELATED | Santos, already raising funds for 2024, asked by FEC to clarify if he's running for reelection
The mainly Democratic push for expulsion might be a long shot. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of members who are present and voting.
Click here to view the resolution.
Meanwhile the congressman has raised $28,000 for the 2024 election, yet he hasn't officially declared that he is running. But he is legally required to if he's raising that kind of money.
The Federal Election Commission wants to know his intentions by March 14.
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