Scandal-plagued GOP Rep. George Santos, who has been the subject of widespread criticism, mockery, and rejection for fabricating many aspects of his life story in order to get elected, declared this week that he won’t quit from Congress because “truth still matters.”
Santos is not only refusing calls for his resignation but is also attempting to rewrite the narrative in real-time.
“I was elected by the people to come here to represent them, and I do that every day,” the New York Republican told The Associated Press in a brief interview off the House floor.
“It’s a hard job. If I said it was easy, I’d be lying to you — and I don’t think that’s what we want, right?”
Pressed about the idea of a post-truth era, Santos told the AP, “I think truth still matters very much.”
As noted by the Associated Press, “not since Donald Trump launched his presidency with exaggerated claims of the crowd size at his inauguration has an elected official arrived in Washington and sought so brazenly and defiantly to convince the public of reality different than the one before their very eyes.”
Santos faces a crush of investigations — by the House Ethics Committee and a county prosecutor in New York — as well as questions from earlier charges in Brazil, where he lived for a time.
However, he appears unmoved by the challenges and has vowed to remain in Congress despite increasing calls for his resignation.
