Politics

Disgraced New York congressman George Santos declares reelection bid

Rep. George Santos
Rep. George Santos Photo: U.S. House

Out Rep. George Santos (R-NY), an admitted “f*ck up” and “terrible liar,” is running for Congress again.

Santos made the announcement on Monday via Twitter.

“I’m not shy about doing what it takes to get the job done,” Santos said, which could describe the avalanche of lies and deceit the freshman congressman buried his Long Island constituents in to win his seat in the first place.

“When I ran in 2022, no one said I’d win,” Santos boasts in the post. The same will surely be said by no one in 2024.

Santos’ tenure representing Long Island’s Third Congressional District descended into chaos almost immediately after his election in November 2022, when he defeated Democratic opponent and fellow LGBTQ+ candidate Robert Zimmerman by eight points.

The gay vs. gay media narrative surrounding the race insulated Santos from a thorough investigation of his background and exaggerated claims. His shock win in a district President Joe Biden carried by 10 points propelled Santos to a momentary MAGA celebrity.

Soon enough, it all came crashing down.

On December 19, The New York Times reported that nearly everything Santos claimed about his work experience and upbringing was false, exaggerated, or mischaracterized in service of embellishing his resume and candidacy.

Citigroup and Goldman Sachs said he had never worked there. Baruch College and New York University had no record of his enrollment or degree. His pet charity was a fraud.

He wasn’t Jewish, just “Jew-ish.”

He wrote bad checks in Brazil.

He was a drag queen. And an election denier.

Despite the revelations — and there were many more to come — Santos was embraced by Republican leadership in their razor-thin House majority as a necessary evil.

He palled around with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) at the State of the Union. He was rejected by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) at the same event.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) kept Santos close but kicked him off his committee assignments. The freshman didn’t have much to do, except watch the accusations pile up.

He stole money from a dying dog.

With time on his hands, Santos has introduced four bills, none of which have attracted co-sponsors. He’s also spoken 18 times from the House floor, more than any other freshman, according to the C-SPAN podcast The Weekly

He spends a lot of time on Twitter.

In his latest financial disclosure, Santos reported just $25,000 in cash on hand for his reelection bid, compared to over $500,000 for neighboring Nassau County Congressman and fellow first-termer Anthony D’Esposito (R).

Santos raised just $5,333.26 in the first three months of 2023.

The congressman has actually spent more money this quarter refunding contributors — to remedy campaign contribution violations — than he’s taken in.

The paltry cash cache includes just one named campaign donation, for $254.95.

The rest were anonymous.

Don't forget to share:

Support vital LGBTQ+ journalism

Reader contributions help keep LGBTQ Nation free, so that queer people get the news they need, with stories that mainstream media often leaves out. Can you contribute today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated

Young people have always been the ones to change the world. Let’s not stand in their way.

Previous article

George Santos introduces anti-vaxx bill named after Nicki Minaj

Next article