Santos: No longer a laughing matter
“George Santos isn’t comic relief anymore,” said Nicholas Goldberg in the Los Angeles
Times. Rep. Santos (R-N.Y.) pleaded not guilty to 13 federal charges last week, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the House, and one count of theft of public funds. Most of the charges center on soliciting donations for a fake Super PAC and spending the money on himself, while others are connected to illegally collecting pandemic unemployment benefits. If found guilty, the 34-yearold could face up to 20 years in prison. He’s “a fraudster who told lie after ridiculous lie about his family background, education, and job experience.” To win votes in a heavily Jewish district, the Brazilian dual citizen claimed he was Jewish and that his grandparents fled the Holocaust. He even lied about being a “star” on Baruch College’s volleyball team. “Who would lie about that?” When caught, he “steadfastly refused to be held accountable,” referring to the case as a “witch hunt.” But now “his free ride” may be over.
We should resist the temptation to mock Santos, said Paul Rosenzweig in The Bulwark. Turning him into a joke “trivializes his rampant criminality and obscures his potent symbolism.” Santos is a “Donald Trump Mini-Me” who embodies the Big Lie technique for gaining and holding power, shamelessly denying the truth even after he’s been caught. Santos epitomizes “the modern Republican Party,” said Moira Donegan in The Guardian. Trump—the presumed front-runner for the party’s 2024 nomination—is no less a fraud, and still pretends he won in 2020. And then there’s Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who repeatedly failed to disclose millions in lavish gifts from conservative megadonor Harlan Crow. It all circles back to “the use of public office for personal enrichment.” The details differ, but “the Republican spirit is the same, in everyone from Santos to Thomas to Trump.”
Now that Santos has been indicted on such strong evidence of lying and fraud, said Norman Eisen in CNN.com, he’d be wise to “negotiate a plea deal” that calls for him to step down from the House. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) won’t make him resign, because Republicans need his vote. “Ethics are not of concern if Santos can help them maintain their grasp on power.” By tolerating this con man, the GOP shares in his shame.