LIE OF THE PARTY
Santos blames GOP for his serial fibs
Just when you thought he couldn’t sink any lower!
Nearly two months after confessing to The Post that he had been “embellishing my résumé,” Long Island Rep. George Santos admitted being a “terrible liar” — but blamed his serial fabrications on the demands of politics.
The Republican congressman — who is under investigation by local, state and federal lawmakers for suspected campaign finance violations — also said he thought he wouldn’t be caught in his lies because he “got away with it” during his failed 2020 House race.
Santos made the stunning remarks during an interview with Talk TV host and Post columnist Piers Morgan, in which he claimed that he made up key facts about his background to curry favor with local GOP leaders.
“It wasn’t about tricking people,” he said. “This was about getting accepted by the party here locally.”
Santos’ shameless blame-shifting came after Morgan ticked off a series of his falsehoods and said that any hope of “redemption” has “got to start from [you saying], ‘I’ve been a terrible liar.’ ”
Santos replied, “Well, I’ve been a terrible liar on those subjects, and what I tried to convey to the American people is: I made mistakes.”
Morgan also asked why Santos thought “no one would find out.”
“I ran in 2020 for the same exact seat for Congress. And I got away with it then,” he answered. At one point, Santos doubled down on his claim to The Post that “I’ve never claimed to be Jewish,” but instead was “Jew-ish.”
“Piers, I’ve always made this as a party-favorite joke,” Santos said.
“What’s funny about falsely claiming you’re Jewish?” Morgan interrupted.
“Not falsely claiming I’m Jewish. I’d always say I’m — I was raised Catholic but I come from a Jewish family, so that makes me Jew-ish,” Santos insisted.
“Everybody always laughed.”
‘It’s nonsense’
Santos also whined about losing his privacy and denied that part of him enjoyed the notoriety, claiming: “And a lot of people think I love it. I just can’t stand it.”
Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who oversees part of Santos’ district, said, “Santos’ whole rationale is ridiculous. It’s nonsense.
“It’s very sad. He has some kind of disorder. He needs help.”
On Dec. 26, Santos told The Post he repeatedly lied during his 2022 House campaign but defiantly declared, “I am not a criminal.”
He admitted to “sins” such as falsely claiming that he’d “worked directly” for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, graduated from Baruch College and had a Jewish mother whose parents escaped the Nazis during World War II.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) confirmed this month that Santos — who has been called on to resign by numerous fellow Republicans — was being investigated by the Ethics Committee.
That prompted Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) to introduce a resolution to expel Santos, saying, “There’s nothing about him that we know is truthful.”
Well, I’ve been a terrible liar . . . . It wasn’t about tricking people. This was about getting accepted by the party here locally.
Rep. George Santos (R-LI) in an interview (left) with Piers Morgan