NEW YORK — U.S. Rep.-elect George Santos Thursday vowed to answer questions about gaping holes in his biography, even as new questions swirled about is claim to be a trailblazing gay conservative Republican.
“I have my story to tell and it will be told next week,” Santos tweeted. “I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions.”
The Democrat who lost to Santos in their race for a Long Island seat derided Santos’ promise as a political ”rope-a-dope” strategy to buy time.
“We shouldn’t have to wait even a moment to get a clear accounting about all these lies,” said Robert Zimmerman. “George Santos is a dangerous fraud.”
Santos has said he is an openly gay, self-made Republican whose Jewish grandparents fled the Holocaust.
So far, no one has questioned the Republican part.
In the latest gap in his biography, Santos allegedly never mentioned that he was married to a woman and got divorced in 2019 just before he launched his political career, the Daily Beast reported Thursday.
Santos says he is now married to a man, but the Daily Beast could not find evidence of the union.
“(Santos) may have even lied about his sexuality,” tweeted Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., who is gay.
Santos has been particularly outspoken about his gay identity and has promoted himself as being uniquely qualified to defend Republican policies on LGBTQ issues, including Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
He once said that he hasn’t experienced anti-gay bigotry in the GOP in the past decade, a period during which he would have been mostly married to a woman, according to the Daily Beast.
“It’s sick and divisive that he would hold himself up as a gay leader while siding with the worst homophobes and using vile homophobic rhetoric,” Zimmerman said.
Santos has been accused of lying about his employment with big investment banks like Goldman Sachs and his education, with Baruch College and New York University, which claim they have no records of his enrollments.
Santos’ allegations that his maternal grandparents were Jews who fled from the Holocaust have also been questioned. They were reportedly born in his homeland of Brazil.
The newly minted lawmaker, who is expected to take office on Jan. 1, has not responded to any of the queries about his resume and supposedly inspirational life story.
Democrats have called on Santos to resign or face ethics and criminal probes. With the GOP holding a slim majority in the House, Republicans can ill afford to lose his seat.
Santos, 34, flipped the seat previously held by Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., part of a sweep of all four Long Island seats by Republicans. The GOP also flipped three seats upstate, effectively handing them control of the House.
If Santos were to step down, Gov. Kathy Hochul would set a special election to pick a replacement.
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