Last week we learned that New York GOP Representative-elect George Santos had been less-than-forthcoming about certain aspects of his personal life:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, his lack of candor is apparently not limited to his, ah, previous marital status:
Ending a weeklong silence, Representative-elect George Santos admitted on Monday to a sizable list of falsehoods about his professional background, educational history and property ownership. But he said he was determined to take the oath of office on Jan. 3 and join the House majority. ...
Mr. Santos admitted to lying about graduating from college and making misleading claims that he worked for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs. He once said he had a family-owned real estate portfolio of 13 properties; on Monday, he admitted he was not a landlord.
Lying about anything is never good; lying about stuff like this is worse still; and misleading claims to the following effect are in another stratosphere altogether:
[M]r. Santos also denounced reporting by both CNN and The Forward, a Jewish publication, that he may have misled voters about his account of his Jewish ancestry, including that his maternal grandparents were born in Europe and emigrated to Brazil during the Holocaust.
"I never claimed to be Jewish," Mr. Santos told The Post. "I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.'"
"Jew-ish?"
Look, real talk: Plenty of Democrats lie about crazy stuff, too, and they don't have to face the heat. I mean, Elizabeth Warren lied about being a Native American for years, probably using it to significantly advance her career, and the media happily ran interference for her for years. So we should be aware that Republicans face a level of scrutiny over these things that Democrats simply do not.
That being said: In all likelihood this guy should probably resign before he's sworn in. For all appearances it looks like he has a shameful background of telling serial falsehoods about his life. That's embarrassing for the GOP and will only hamper conservative efforts in Congress.
GOP, just a gentle reminder: Do your homework and check your people out before you run them.
