Rep. George Santos says he only said he went to college because Long Island Republicans would never have endorsed his candidacy if they knew he had just a high school diploma.
“I would have never gotten the nomination from Nassau County GOP if I had not concluded college,” he told Newsmax. “To say that I deceived, and (ran) a campaign of deception is just not fair. That’s just a political spin.”
Santos admits concocting degrees from New York University’s business school and Baruch College, where he also claimed he was a star volleyball player.
He did not explain why he said he had a graduate degree if he was only seeking to make party bosses think he had an undergraduate degree.
Santos insists that he has learned from his mistakes and should not be judged by what he’s alleged about everything from his education and work experience to supposed Jewish heritage.
“I’m human; I’ve made mistakes,” Santos said. “I’ve made peace with those mistakes, and I’ve come clean on those mistakes.”
In fact, Santos has confessed to only a handful of things.
He denied Brazilian prosecutors’ accusations that he stole checks and also refuses to admit allegedly scamming a homeless veteran out of $3,000 in donations for his dying dog.
Santos is under investigation for campaign finance discrepancies like claiming a $700,000 loan to his campaign that he has failed to properly explain.
The self-styled conservative gay son of immigrants says all should be forgiven and forgotten, even though he has yet to suffer any consequences for his actions.
“I thought we were the nation of repent and ask for forgiveness and move forward,” Santos said. “The problem is the media fanfare around me continues to spiral.”
Critics on both sides of the aisle have demanded Santos resign the seat he won in a midterms upset or face an expulsion vote.
But he refuses, and has become increasingly outspoken that he has every right to stay in Congress for his full term despite running on a record that was completely fabricated.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has stood by Santos, mostly because he needs every vote he can get in the evenly divided chamber.
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