The 18 Most George Santos Things George Santos Ever Did
A brief, but fantastic, year in Congress.
Much of what newly-ousted Rep. George Santos is best known for took place before he actually got to Congress.
He shamelessly embellished his resume, lied about the deaths of family members on 9/11 and even described himself as “Jew-ish.” And, of course, there was the alleged wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and host of other misdeeds, all part of a 23-count indictment which led to the damning ethics report that preceded his expulsion Friday.
But you can’t deny that he put on a show this year. Since his first and final half-term began in January, Santos has kept Washington rapt through his eccentric persona and increasingly perplexing antics. Dare we say, we might miss him when he’s gone?
POLITICO Magazine took a look back at Santos’ most eyebrow-raising moments as a sitting U.S. representative. Here’s the timeline:
- Jan 21: Santos responds to resurfaced photos of him dressed in a wig, dress, jewelry and makeup: “I was not a drag queen. I was young and I had fun at a festival.” (A Brazilian drag performer seen in a photo with Santos and other acquaintances said he did indeed perform in drag in the 2000s.)
- Jan. 22: Santos writes on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he is looking forward to bringing a “surprise for the ‘journalists’ assigned to stake out side [sic] of my office.” The next morning, he arrives at 8 a.m. with a dozen donuts and a carafe of coffee, leaving them outside his office for reporters.
- Jan. 25: After making his first floor speech and shouting “WHO’S KICKING ME?” at the press following him, reporters ask Santos if he has been contacted by the House Ethics Committee and whether he has a legal team. “I’ve not,” he says. “With my legal team? Do I have a legal team? I’m asking you, ‘Do I?’ You guys seem to know more than I do about myself!” He added to another reporter, “I don’t touch any of my FEC stuff, alright? So don’t be disingenuous and report that I did.”
- Feb. 7-8: After Mitt Romney criticizes Santos at the State of the Union, Santos tells a reporter, “It’s not the first time in history that I’ve been told to shut up and go to the back of the room. Wasn’t very Mormon of him, that’s what I can tell you.”
- March 30: Santos claims he was oblivious to the existence of the frequently NSFW site OnlyFans until “about three weeks ago.” The November House Ethics report showed that he spent campaign money on the platform in the months before his comments.
- April 17: Santos gleefully announces his bid for reelection in a video saying “it’s a great day to be a Republican.”
- May 10: Santos is arrested on 13 federal charges including fraud and money laundering, but declares he will fight the “witch hunt.” “It makes no sense!”
- Sept. 29: Santos appears to announce his marriage to the world in a tweet on X mourning the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
- Oct. 2: Santos blasts Rep. Jamaal Bowman for pulling a Capitol fire alarm, declaring “BULLSHIT!” on X. He also reposts several memes of Bowman’s face photoshopped onto photos of the QAnon Shaman on Jan. 6, 2021 (with a fire alarm also edited in).
- Oct. 13: Santos walks out of Rep. Tim Burchett’s office holding an unidentified baby. When asked if it was his baby, he replies, “Not yet.”
- Nov. 1: Santos tweets “I’m fine and calm. God does not give each of us a burden heavier than we can carry,” while awaiting a vote on his expulsion from the House.
- Nov. 16: Santos announces in a fiery post on X that he will not seek reelection in 2024 after a House Ethics Committee report found that he misused campaign funds and violated the Ethics in Government Act. “If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the “Ethics committee”, they would have not released this biased report,” he writes. “It is a disgusting politicized smear … I will remain steadfast in fighting for my rights and for defending my name in the face of adversity. I will however NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time.”
- Nov. 24: Santos says he expects to be expelled, and will wear it as a badge of honor. “I’ll be expelled because people simply did not like me.”
- Nov. 24: Santos goes on an X Spaces rant, claiming “I have colleagues who are more worried about getting drunk every night with the next lobbyist that they’re gonna screw and pretend like none of us know what’s going on, and sell off the American people, not show up to vote because they’re too hungover or whatever the reason is, or not show up to vote at all and just give their card out like fucking candy for someone else to vote for them. This shit happens every single week. Where are the ethics investigations?”
- Nov. 24: Santos describes himself as the Republican “It Girl.”
- Nov. 24: Santos describes himself as the “Mary Magdalene of the United States Congress.”
- Nov. 24: Santos declares, “I’m not leaving.”
- Dec. 1: Santos is expelled from the House.
