Topline
Rep. George Santos (RN.Y.) — who faces bipartisan rebuke for lying extensively on his resume — claimed in a Thursday night TV interview that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) offered him encouraging words at the State of the Union, but on Friday morning Sinema denied speaking to Santos, just days after the embattled congressman confronted Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on the House floor.
Rep. George Santos, RN.Y., leaves a House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill, Washington, … [+]
Highlights
Santos continued newsmax Thursday and described the supposed encounter he had with Sinema during the State of the Union, saying the senator said something like “hang in there mate” and he replied “thank you, senator” , shortly after Romney berated Santos for his story of lies.
While Santos described Sinema as “very polite, very kind”, Sinema said the conversation never took place.
Cinema spokesperson Pablo Sierra-Carmona said Forbes Santos was lying and “Kyrsten didn’t talk to him”.
Key context
During the State of the Union earlier this week, cameras captured a tense exchange between Santos and Romney. Romney later told reporters that he told Santos he should “stay quiet” and that Santos “shouldn’t have been there.” Disagreement over what exactly happened made its way to Twitter later that night. While Romney told reporters he “didn’t hear anything,” Santos told him, Santos said Traffic lights he replied, “Go tell that to the 142,000 who voted for me”, at which point Romney called him an “asshole”. And this meeting is just the tip of the iceberg. Santos has spent the last few months under fire from a myriad of lies about his personal background, including saying that his mother was “in the South Tower” on 9/11 and later succumbed to cancer (in a 2003 green card application, Santos’ mother said she hadn’t been to the United States since 1999), saying he’s Jewish and his maternal grandparents fled Ukraine to escape anti-Jewish persecution (this was reported they were both born in Brazil) and saying he graduated summa cum laude from Baruch College (there is no record of his college attendance). Santos also faces a house ethics committee investigation for questionable financial statements.
Tangent
The Federal Election Commission sent Santos a letter earlier this week, asking him to clarify whether he is running for re-election in 2024, after raising more than $5,000 after the midterm elections, CNN reported. Anyone who raises or spends more than $5,000 must register as a contestant within 15 days of reaching that threshold, per FEC rules. Santos has until March 14 to tell the FEC about his plans.
Further reading
Shouldn’t have been there’: Mitt Romney hits out at Santos at State of the Union (Forbes)
House Ethics Committee investigating George Santos, confirms McCarthy (Forbes)
George Santis steps back from committee assignments amid lying scandal (Forbes)