George Santos – latest: GOP Rep Nick LaLota sides with Mitt Romney and brands Santos a ‘sociopath’

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George Santos: The imposter in Congress | On The Ground

Scandal-plagued congressman George Santos is facing further criticism from members of his own party, with fellow New York Republican Nick LaLota branding him a “sociopath”.

On Wednesday, Mr LaLota weighed in on the spat between Mr Santos and Senator Mitt Romney after the two men had a heated exchange at Tuesday night’s State of the Union.

Mr Romney told Mr Santos “you don’t belong here” and criticised him for “trying to shake hands” with the president given “he’s under an ethics investigation”.

Mr Santos fired back saying the senator’s snub was “not very Mormon of him”.

Mr LaLota sided with Mr Romney and agreed Mr Santos “does not deserve to be in Congress.”

“He’s a sociopath, George Santos. He looks for that attention. Even the negative attention drives him. It’s become an embarrassment and a distraction to the Republicans in the House,” he told CNN.

At the SOTU, Mr Santos also sparked fury from the 9/11 community for taking a volunteer firefighter as his guest – after he was accused of lying about his mother dying in the attacks.

John Feal, 9/11 activist, told The Independent Mr Santos is “using the 9/11 community for his redemption tour”.

Key points

• New York Republican Nick LaLota brands Santos ‘a sociopath'
• George Santos fires back at Mitt Romney: ‘It wasn't very Mormon of him’
• Mitt Romney tells Santos ‘you don’t belong here’ at State of the Union
• George Santos takes 9/11 responder to SOTU – after lie that mother died in attacks
• 9/11 responder John Feal blasts Santos for ‘using 9/11 community as his redemption tour’
• New York constituents travel to DC to demand resignation

[8 February 2023 19:13 · David Taintor]

George Santos says Mitt Romney snub was ‘not very Mormon of him'

Embattled GOP Rep George Santos has responded to Mitt Romney’s snub at the State of the Union by saying the Utah senator’s retort was “not very Mormon of him”.

[8 February 2023 19:15 · John Bowden]

Mitt Romney told George Santos he doesn’t belong in Congress during tense exchange before State of the Union

Freshman Congressman George Santos was confronted by Mitt Romney, the anti-Trump Republican senator from Utah, on Tuesday as the embattled representative arrived in the House chamber for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

Cameras watching the controversial New York lawmaker, who is buried at the centre of countless scandals resulting from a long list of lies he has admitted to or been caught telling about his life and history, caught the Utah senator delivering a quick but scathing remark to his House colleague just a few minutes before Mr Biden’s speech began.

“You ought to be embarrassed”, it appears that Mr Romney says to his fellow Republican in the moment. Mr Romeny also told Mr Santos that he doesn’t belong in Congress, according to multiple reports after the exchange.

Read the full story here:

[8 February 2023 19:45 · John Bowden]

George Santos fires back at Mitt Romney and says SOTU snub ‘wasn’t very Mormon of him’

George Santos has responded to reporters after being confronted by Mitt Romney on the floor of the House Tuesday evening.

The New York Republican took offense to Mr Romney’s incensed remarks; the Utah senator told reporters after Joe Biden’s State of the Union address that he had told Mr Santos that he did not belong in Congress and should resign.

[8 February 2023 21:06 · John Bowden]

George Santos’ latest resume lie? He produced Spider-Man on Broadway

George Santos has yet another accusation of deceiving people for campaign donations to answer for.

The latest accusations come from Bloomberg, which reports that the congressman himself told multiple people that he was involved in the production of the Broadway flop Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark during his bid for a House seat in 2022 — a false fact that was apparently part of his pitch for donations.

The news triggered a statement of condemnation from the show’s actual producers, who reached out to Entertainment Weekly through a spokesperson: “Of all the tribulations the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark had to endure, we are very pleased, proud and relieved to report working with George Santos was not one of them.”

[8 February 2023 22:18 · John Bowden]

Romney reveals what was said between him and George Santos

Mitt Romney, GOP senator from Utah, spoke to reporters after Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday about his confrontation before the speech with George Santos.

Mr Romney told reporters: “I don’t know the exact words I said. He shouldn’t have been there. Look, he’s a sick puppy.”

“I didn’t expect he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every Senator and the President of the United States,” added the Utah Republican.

“He says he embellished his record. Embellishing is saying you got an A when you got an A minus,” Mr Romney said. “Lying is saying you graduated from a college you didn’t even attend and he shouldn’t be in Congress, and they’re going to go through the process and hopefully get him out, but he shouldn’t be there and if he had any shame at all he wouldn’t be there.”

Read more:

[8 February 2023 22:52 · John Bowden]

McCarthy responds to Romney’s jab at Santos

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy responded on Wednesday to Mitt Romney’s suggestion that he should tell George Santos to resign.

Watch below, via CNN’s Manu Raju:

[8 February 2023 23:15 · John Bowden]

It’s ‘so easy to check the validity of [Mr Santos’] story’ about his mother on 9/11

John Feal did respond to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He worked as a supervisor at a demolition company on 9/11 and he responded to Ground Zero one day later. He had spent five days straight carrying out rescue efforts at the site when an 8,000-pound steel beam fell on his left foot.

He lost half his left foot and became an advocate for 9/11 first responders. He has spent years lobbying Congress – successfully – so that first responders and victims are now guaranteed lifetime compensation for injuries and illnesses caused by that day.

Mr Feal told The Independent that it’s “so easy to check the validity of [Mr Santos’] story” about his mother.

“She wasn’t in the World Trade Center health programme. Even after she died in 9/11 and then lived and then died again in 2016 she was never in the programme,” Mr Feal claimed.

Now, beyond his claims about his mother, Mr Feal said Mr Santos is peddling another false claim to the 9/11 community – by promising that he can amend the bill to include other illnesses.

[8 February 2023 23:45 · John Bowden]

Santos speaks of ‘honor’ of taking 9/11 responder to SOTU – after lies over tragedy and being slammed by activist

George Santos spoke of his “honour” in taking a 9/11 responder as his guest to the State of the Union – after he has been caught out in lies over the tragedy.

“I want to thank my #SOTU guest Michael Weinstock for joining me this evening. It’s been an honor to welcome a fellow New Yorker from #NY03 to the nations capitol,” he wrote along with a photo of the two men.

This comes after he sparked a backlash from the 9/11 community for inviting Mr Weinstock to the speech – given that he has been caught out in falsehoods about his connection to the terrorist attack.

Mr Santos claimed that his mother died on 9/11, initially saying that she was at the World Trade Center that day where she worked as a financial executive.

Mr Santos’ mother Fatima Devolder actually died 15 years on from the terrorist attacks in 2016, her obituary shows.

And immigration records reveal that she wasn’t even in the US in the year of, immediately before or after the attacks.

On Tuesday, 9/11 first responder and activist John Feal blasted Mr Santos for inviting the volunteer firefighter to the State of the Union, saying he is “using the 9/11 community for his redemption tour” and is “disrespecting” all the lives that were lost and continue to be lost because of that day.

“Every time George Santos says 9/11 it disrespects those we lost and those we continue to lose,” Mr Feal told The Independent.

[9 February 2023 00:15 · John Bowden]

‘People constantly go to his office. He’s never there,’ Santos constituent says

Ben Marzouk, a constituent of Mr Santos on Long Island, said during a press conference on Tuesday that “we live about a mile away from his office. People constantly go to his office. He’s never there. You call the phone, you call the office number. Nobody picks up”.

At the start of his remarks, Mr Marzouk said that “we made the trip here today to really express our outrage with George Santos. We’re here to push the FEC as well to continue their investigation to push the Democrats to push the Republicans to push the independents to get this guy expelled”.

[9 February 2023 00:45 · John Bowden]

Santos constituents deliver petition to his door

Constituents of George Santos’s third congressional district of New York rallied in Washington DC this week to deliver a hundreds-strong petition calling for his resignation.

Polls show that the vast majority of residents of Mr Santos’s district want him to step down after it was revealed that he lied extensively about his background.