Congressman-elect George Santos is already beginning to see his own party turn on him, days before he is to take office as one of the newest members of the House representing New York City.
The Republican politician has faced a barrage of criticism since a flurry of news reports revealed that he never went to college where he said he studied, never worked where he said he was employed, and was not, as he had previously claimed, Jewish or descended from survivors of the Holocaust.
It was a breathtaking series of lies that Mr Santos admitted to this week, following days of silence over the holidays and a promise to address the issues after his initial denunciation of the reporting as defamatory attacks.
Now, the political newcomer is seeing his own side distance itself and even call for retribution while Democrats openly mock him as a fraud and a liar.
On Tuesday morning, the Republican Jewish Coalition, a powerful GOP group, released a statement condemning his misrepresentations of his supposed Jewish faith and barred him from future events.
And Jason Miller, an adviser to former President Donald Trump, wrote on his GETTR platform: “Get rid of this loser”.
The calls for Mr Santos’s removal have yet to reach the GOP caucus on Capitol Hill, which has largely chosen to remain silent on the issue in recent days.
That could change given the scope of the negative press and commentary which has surrounded the embattled New York Republican, which has even reached Fox News. He’s scheduled to appear on Tucker Carlson later Tuesday evening.
Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, are beginning to demand that Mr Santos face a House Ethics Committee investigation, which could occur once he takes office in January. Some want him to resign before that even takes place.
“George Santos should resign as Congressman-elect. If he refuses, Congress should expel him. He should also be investigated by authorities. Just about every aspect of his life appears to be a lie. We’ve seen people fudge their resume but this is total fabrication,” wrote Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro.
Rep Ritchie Torres, Mr Santos’s fellow New Yorker, added: “George Santos, a former call center employee falling behind on his rent, lent his campaign a staggering $705,000. Where did all that money come from? The Ethics Committee MUST start investigating immediately.”
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, was another who suggested that Mr Santos’s actions may have included criminal activity.
“This headline should read: ‘Admitted Serial Liar Swears He’s Not a Criminal,’” he mused about a CNN story regarding Mr Santos’s admittance of his lies.
