Former Rep George Santos appeared for a chaotic interview with writer and comedian Ziwe, in which he explained whose baby he was carrying through the Capitol earlier this year, claimed several members of Congress are guilty of fraud and confirmed his previously reported past as a drag queen.
Mr Santos, 35, was elected to Congress in 2022 after a failed attempt in 2020. After his election win but before he was sworn in as a member of Congress, stories began to appear in The North Shore Leader and The New York Times outlining how large parts of his resume were made up, including his job and education history.
It has also been revealed that Mr Santos told lies about his mother dying on 9/11 and his grandparents being Holocaust survivors, among other fibs. In May, Mr Santos was charged with 13 charges in a Long Island federal court and in October, a superseding indictment listing 23 counts was filed. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, but he’s now in talks for a possible plea deal.
He was ousted from Congress on 1 December after an Ethics Committee report found that there was “substantial evidence” that he had “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House”.
The report from the Ethics Panel revealed that he spent around $6,000 in campaign donations at the luxury brand Ferragamo and Botox injections, according to campaign spreadsheets. It was also reported that campaign funds were used for OnlyFans subscriptions – the site is best known for hosting adult content.
Here are the five wackiest moments from the interview:
Santos lists other members he claims are fraudsters
Mr Santos listed a number of people in Congress he claims have committed fraud even as he’s in talks for a plea deal after he was indicted on 23 charges including various kinds of fraud.
“You’re the only congressman to be expelled without a conviction. Is it safe to say you didn’t come to the Capitol to make friends?” Ziwe asked Mr Santos.
“I wasn’t there to play nice, I was there to expose rot and corruption, and I did,” Mr Santos said. “And I’m going to continue to do it, Republicans and Democrats alike – swampy slamming people selling this country down a river.”
“I would say that you are a messy b**** that lives for drama,” the comedian told Mr Santos.
“You can call me a messy b****. I’ve been called worse, but I’ll take it,” the serial fabulist and Cameo star said. “Can you make a pin and mail it to me? I will wear your messy b**** pin any day.”
“I will send you a gift as long as you declare it on your taxes,” Ziwe said.
“Definitely – I like paying taxes,” the 35-year-old claimed.
“Who else in Congress is committing fraud?” Ziwe asked.
“They’re all frauds – if you were to put them all under the same scrutiny I was put under, you would have to vacate the whole goddamn building,” Mr Santos said.
Ziwe then began naming other members, asking if they had committed fraud, with Mr Santos saying no to Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz.
Mr Santos said former Speaker Kevin McCarthy is guilty of fraud, making the same unsubstantiated claim about Sen Lindsey Graham, and Rep Dan Goldman.
He said the same about Sen Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who’s facing an extensive indictment on charges of being a foreign agent for Egypt and allegedly taking bribes. Mr Menendez has rejected all allegations of wrongdoing.
Regarding Mr Goldman, he said, “he doesn’t pay his rent ... Dan is owing $180,000 worth of rent right now on his $45,000 monthly rent, which is what most Americans f****** make a year. You let that f****** sink in”.
The Independent has reached out to the offices of Mr Graham, Mr Goldman, and Mr McCarthy for comment.
Santos reveals identity of mystery baby he carried through Capitol
He revealed that it was a staffer’s baby he was carrying through the halls of Congress in a viral moment earlier this year.
During the House speaker fight following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster in early October, Mr Santos was seen screaming at pro-Palestinian protesters in the Longworth House Office Building while holding a two-month-old baby.
Leaving the office of Rep Tim Burchett, Mr Santos was asked if it was his baby.
“Not yet,” he said at the time.
Speaking Ziwe, Mr Santos said his response was “a reference to I’m not a parent – I’m not there yet”.
“It was a staffer’s baby,” he added, before rejecting the notion that he was using the child as a prop, instead saying that he “was taking the baby to introduce him to another member of Congress”.
‘I can probably make a Black baby on my own,’ Santos says
Ziwe asked: “When you do decide to have a child. Would you rather have a gay son, THOT daughter, or pathological liar?”
“I will have a child and I will accept my kid in any way shape or form they come and the best I can do is teach my child to be better than me,” the evicted former congressman responded.
“Do you plan to adopt Black?” the comedian asked.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” Mr Santos said. “Especially because I can probably make a Black baby on my own. Granted my dad and my entire dad’s family because I’m biracial.”
“Got it. So when you say you could make a Black baby on your own...” Ziwe said.
“Oh, I mean, essentially, physically, like not physically but if I were to use my sperm...” Mr Santos replied.
“To impregnate a woman...” Ziwe continued.
“Yeah, that’s a high possibility,” the first openly LGBT+ non-incumbent Republican elected to Congress responded.
Santos says he might return to Congress: ‘I’ll outlive them’
In a sprawling interview lasting just over 15 minutes, Mr Santos also said that he could be running for office again, even as he faces 23 federal charges and the possibility of significant jail time.
“Not now but in the future. I’m not ruling it out,” he said, adding that he’s a Republican “for now” but that he could pivot to be an independent “because I think the country needs more independent thinkers now”.
“I’ll be back. I’m 35 – they’re all in their 50s, I’ll outlive them. Each and last one of them,” he said in reference to the current crop of House members.
“This is so menacing, I feel threatened and I’m not even in the House,” Ziwe said to loud laughter from Mr Santos.
Santos confirms identity of drag alter-ego
Mr Santos was asked about his previous claims that he didn’t have a drag alter-ego, despite images appearing of him on social media.
Asked about his alter-ego Kitara Ravache, Mr Santos said, “For a day when I was 18 years old”.
“If I was a career drag queen then like everybody likes to claim, then I must be a myth of a drag queen now...I wear far more makeup today,” he added.
