Following demands for his resignation and labels like “sick puppy” and “sociopath” coming from members of his own party, newly elected Republican US Rep George Santos described himself as “simple minded” as he defended against an avalanche of allegations of fraud and con artistry.
But in that same interview, the freshman congressman from New York appeared to add to a growing list of fabrications by detailing a recent conversation with a Senator Kyrsten Sinema – whose office said had never happened.
During a wide-ranging interview with right-wing media network Newsmax personality Greg Kelly, Mr Santos said money that powered his campaign – which faces several accusations of campaign finance violations – was legitimately obtained through his company, which he said loaned him funding.
“This is about getting stuff done, having somebody like me coming to represent other people just like me: simple-minded folks who come from absolutely nothing and have a voice in Congress,” he said.
He also addressed a tense exchange with Republican Senator Mitt Romney during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, adding that, unlike the GOP senator from Utah, Ms Sinema was “very kind-hearted” and told him something to the effect of “hang in there, buddy” – which Ms Sinema has denied ever happening.
Mr Romney told reporters that, when he saw Mr Santos in an aisle seat where members of Congress waited to shake hands with the president’s cabinet and the president himself, he told Mr Santos “you don’t belong here”.
He later told reporters that Mr Santos is a “sick puppy” who wouldn’t be at the address if he “had any shame at all.”
The day after the president’s remarks, Mr Santos called Mr Romney’s statements “reprehensible” and “demeaning”.
“It wasn’t very Mormon of him,” he said of Mr Romney, a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints.
Ms Sinema, on the other hand, “said something to the effect of ‘hang in there buddy’ or something like that,” Mr Santos told Newsmax.
“I said ‘Thank you, madam senator,’” he added. “She was very polite, very kind-hearted as I’ve learned to see her. She’s a good person, unlike Mr Romney.”
Ms Sinema’s office flatly rejected his claim.
“This is a lie,” Ms Sinema’s spokesperson Hannah Hurley told CNN.
In his interview, Mr Santos was also asked about his false claims about his resume and his education, which he has admitted to fabricating. He suggested that New York’s Nassau County Republicans would not have endorsed him if he admitted that he never finished college.
“Look, Greg, here’s the deal. I would have never got the nomination from Nassau County GOP if I had not concluded college,” he said. “That was really the main driver because of the way and the nature of their politics over there, it’s just plain and simple.”
Mr Santos admitted to embellishing claims about working for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, though he claimed that he “never lied” because he supposedly worked for contractors engaged by both firms.
“I want to set the record clear on my work experience. I never lied. I never worked for Goldman Sachs or Citigroup directly, but I did work through direct contracts for those firms in the management of limited partners and general partners relationships,” he said.
“I’m human. I’ve made mistakes,” he added. “I’ve made peace with those mistakes, and I’ve come clean on those mistakes.”
