• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans ‘just in case’; rich nations lock in supplies
  • Toni Collette feels more ‘anxious’ with intimacy coordinators
  • Paris Hilton says Demi Lovato inspired her to write tell-all memoir

What George Santos’s alleged lying might say about US politics

Towleroad January 7, 2023 Leave a Comment

Published by
AFP
662924 origin 1
US Republican lawmaker-elect from New York George Santos looks on as the House of Representatives continues voting for new speaker at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 5, 2023

New York (AFP) – Republican George Santos admitted to hamming up his life story and is under investigation in America and Brazil, but he still went to Capitol Hill this week for his swearing in.

The 34-year-old has defied calls to stand down and if rebel Republicans hadn’t repeatedly blocked the election of House Speaker then Santos would be a Congressman by now.

For some experts, the lawmaker-elect from New York is an example of what politicians think they can get away with today in the deeply polarized United States. 

“There is no getting around the fact that Mr. Santos’s con game is a manifestation of a growing political phenomenon of saying or doing anything, with no automatic consequences,” Santos’s Democratic predecessor, former representative Tom Suozzi wrote in the New York Times. 

Joshua Tucker, a politics professor at New York University notes that “people have lied about their record forever.”

“(But) what’s crazy about this story is the extent to which he lied,” he told AFP.

Santos portrayed himself as the embodiment of the “American Dream” ahead of his election victory in New York’s third congressional district in November.

The son of Brazilian immigrants grew up in the Queens borough of New York City and is openly gay.

His story began to unravel in December when the New York Times reported many falsehoods in his CV, including on education and employment.

He did not graduate from Baruch College, nor did he attend the Horace Mann School, a prestigious private school in the Bronx. Nor did he work for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs.

Santos — who grew up in a Catholic family — was also accused of exaggerating reality, our outright lying, by presenting himself as “a proud American Jew.” 

He later said he never claimed to be Jewish, just “Jew-ish.”

Reports also cast doubts on his claim that he is the grandson of Holocaust survivors who fled Nazi barbarism. 

Santos, who has been likened to “The Talented Mr. Ripley” or “The Great Gatsby”, has been accused of inflating his financial income and real estate holdings as well.

Amid the allegations, New York’s top prosecutor, Letitia James, said she would investigate Santos’ claims while Brazilian prosecutors reinstated over-decade-old fraud charges against him for using a stolen checkbook.

‘I’m not a fraud’

Santos told the conservative Fox News channel this week that “embellishing my resume was a mistake.”

But he added: “I’m not a fraud, I’m not a fake.”

Santos appeared isolated in the House of Representatives on Monday, and avoided questions from journalists, but by Tuesday he was seen mixing with other Republicans.

While Democrats have called for him to quit, no high-profile Republicans have done so.

Some commentators say that highlights the fragile state of American democracy.

“Today’s hyperpolarized political culture is fueled by a win-at-all-costs mentality in which the ends justify the means,” Ken Paulson and Kent Syler, two professors at Middle Tennessee State University, wrote in The Tennessean newspaper.

Tucker sees the influence of former president Donald Trump, who is known for his flexible relationship with facts.

“Trump has shown that it doesn’t really matter what your relationship to the truth is,” he said.

“Maybe in this modern era, the bar for what triggers politicians to think they have behaved so egregiously that they should resign is different than it was in previous eras.

“It’s sort of hard to fathom that he’s not going to resign at some point,” Tucker added.

A local conservative newspaper, The North Shore Leader, raised concerns about Santos’s financial situation before his election, but the information was not picked up nationally after the vote.

Some observers also criticize the Democratic Party for not spotting and highlighting Santos’s fibs earlier.

So what might happen to Santos if he doesn’t quit?

Experts say the House may vote to censure him when he is finally sworn in, but they add that Republicans are unlikely to expel him due to their slim 222-213 majority.

Voters, armed with more facts about Santos than they had this time round, will get another say in two years’ time — if he decides to seek re-election.

Topics: Aaon, Politics, Republicans More Posts About: Baruch College, Joshua Tucker, New York City, New York University, The New York Times

Related Posts
  • Hate crimes in US surged 11.6% in 2021
  • Watch: House Republican claims ‘friends of mine that are homosexual’ support drag bans
  • New York Times embroiled in debate over transgender coverage
  • Toni Collette feels more ‘anxious’ with intimacy coordinators

    Toni Collette feels more ‘anxious’ with intimacy coordinators

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Toni Collette has sent away intimacy coordinators because she doesn’t find them helpful. The 50-year-old actress insisted the experts – who are brought in to help choreograph sex scenes and to …Read More »
  • Paris Hilton says Demi Lovato inspired her to write tell-all memoir

    Paris Hilton says Demi Lovato inspired her to write tell-all memoir

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Paris Hilton has credited Demi Lovato with inspiring her to write her tell-all book. The hotel heiress has lifted the lid on her life in ‘Paris: The Memoir’ which gives a …Read More »
  • Italy’s language watchdog says ‘no’ to gender-neutral symbols

    Italy’s language watchdog says ‘no’ to gender-neutral symbols

    Published by Reuters By Alvise Armellini ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s courts should stick to tradition and avoid the novelty of gender-neutral symbols in official documents, according to the institution that acts as the guardian of the …Read More »
  • U.S. Supreme Court rejects Christian preacher’s challenge to university

    U.S. Supreme Court rejects Christian preacher’s challenge to university

    Published by Reuters By John Kruzel WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a traveling Christian evangelist’s free-speech challenge to a University of Alabama requirement that he obtain a permit before handing …Read More »
Previous Post: « Todd Chrisley Denies Gay Affair With Business Partner Mark Braddock, Says He ‘Looks Like A Toad’
Next Post: Dolly Parton makes surprise appearance on ‘Call Me Kat’ to deliver a moving tribute to Leslie Jordan »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Study provides insight into how culture war issues contributed to Trump’s rise to power

    Study provides insight into how culture war issues contributed to Trump’s rise to power

  • Lukas Gage Says He Feels Pressed To Identify His Sexuality As Chris Appleton Claims He’s Dating Actor

    Lukas Gage Says He Feels Pressed To Identify His Sexuality As Chris Appleton Claims He’s Dating Actor

  • Protesters clash outside NYC drag story hour hosted by Attorney General Letitia James, one arrested

    Protesters clash outside NYC drag story hour hosted by Attorney General Letitia James, one arrested

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Gwyneth Paltrow says rectal ozone therapy has been ‘very helpful’

    Gwyneth Paltrow says rectal ozone therapy has been ‘very helpful’

  • Sarah Ferguson and Princess Diana were arrested for impersonating police officers

    Sarah Ferguson and Princess Diana were arrested for impersonating police officers

  • Samantha Ronson reacts to the news that her ex Lindsay Lohan is pregnant

    Samantha Ronson reacts to the news that her ex Lindsay Lohan is pregnant

RSS Partner Links

  • An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.

Most Recent

  • Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans ‘just in case’; rich nations lock in supplies

    Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans ‘just in case’; rich nations lock in supplies

  • Toni Collette feels more ‘anxious’ with intimacy coordinators

    Toni Collette feels more ‘anxious’ with intimacy coordinators

  • Paris Hilton says Demi Lovato inspired her to write tell-all memoir

    Paris Hilton says Demi Lovato inspired her to write tell-all memoir

  • Italy’s language watchdog says ‘no’ to gender-neutral symbols

    Italy’s language watchdog says ‘no’ to gender-neutral symbols

  • U.S. Supreme Court rejects Christian preacher’s challenge to university

    U.S. Supreme Court rejects Christian preacher’s challenge to university

  • Former German top diver Hempel seeks compensation over abuse by coach

    Former German top diver Hempel seeks compensation over abuse by coach

  • Finland’s President Niinistö defends joining NATO without Sweden

    Finland’s President Niinistö defends joining NATO without Sweden

  • Censorship or evolution? ‘Sensitivity readers’ divide publishing world

    Censorship or evolution? ‘Sensitivity readers’ divide publishing world

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×