Suddenly, Rep. George Santos is very concerned about accuracy.
The embattled Long Island GOP lawmaker — who is under fire from both parties for lying about his entire resume, key details of his family history, and more — was quick to clean up his statement Thursday that he would step down from Congress “if 142 people ask for me to resign.”
The federal fabricator made the reply to questions about his political future as he dashed into an elevator in the Capitol building.
The 34-year-old Santos later told ABC News he meant to say the “142,000 voters who voted for me” would have to decide not to vote for him again at the end of his term.
“The elevator cut that [off],” he added.
The rep, who defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman by almost 22,000 votes in the race to represent the Nassau County and Queens-based Third District, has a history of blaming his misstatements on listeners’ ears.
When criticized for claiming Jewish heritage by referencing his grandparents’ purported escape from the Nazis during World War II — for which genealogical records show no evidence — Santos took a similar tack.
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos told The Post on Dec. 26. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”
Calls for Santos’ ouster have grown louder this week, with Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo saying he had “disgraced the House of Representatives.”
“It has become clear that Congressman George Santos’ many hurtful lies and mistruths surrounding his history have irreparably broken the trust of the residents he is sworn to serve,” Santos’ fellow Long Island Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito said in a statement Wednesday. “For his betrayal of the public’s trust, I call on Congressman George Santos to resign.”
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But the lying lawmaker has insisted he will run again in 2024.
“I’ve lived an honest life,” he told fellow GOP legislator Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Steve Bannon’s “The War Room” podcast Thursday.
“I was elected by 142,000 people — until those same 142,000 people tell me they don’t want me … we’ll find out in two years,” he said.
