Embattled Republican congressman George Santos reportedly barricaded himself with the help of police officers after his constituents showed up at his New York district office in Douglaston, Queens, to demand his resignation.
According to The Independent, the protesters were from the group Concerned Residents of NY03, which is the New York district Santos represents, but were turned away by Santos’s staff who told them the congressman “didn’t want to speak to a mob.”
“It’s incredibly cowardly to hide behind his staff. It’s part of his job to meet with us,” constituent Emily Raphael said.
“He’s trying to paint us as some wild-eyed protesters. You could not find a less threatening group of people if you tried,” she told The Independent, adding that it was “mostly PTA moms in attendance.”
“We question the motives of the national GOP in allowing Santos to run, in seating him, and in not moving rapidly to oust him,” Concerned Residents of NY03 said in a statement. “The timeline shows that Speaker McCarthy and Rep. Stefanik knew a year before the election that Santos was a fraud, and had at least five months to replace him with a credible candidate.”
Santos is facing a flurry of scandals that include allegedly sexually harassing an aide, stealing money from a disabled veteran that was intended to care for his dying service dog, lying about nearly every single aspect of his work, academic, and family history as well as writing bad checks.