GOP congressman-elect responds to accusations of faking his background story with a fake quote

George Santos’s election was key to the GOP attaining majority in the House

Republican congressman-elect George Santos (George Santos campaign)

The bizarre story of Republican congressman-elect George Santos grew even weirder on Monday as the congressman’s attorney responded to a report in The New York Times detailing multiple disrepancies in his stated background with a fake Winston Churchill quote.

Mr Santos’s troubles began when the Times posted an article digging in to his past, revealing a criminal history in Brazil as well as multiple lines on his resume that appeared to be simply untrue.

Among the reported fabrications, Mr Santos is accused of lying about working for the investment bank Citigroup and obtaining a degree from Baruch College, a New York City college that says it can find no record of him ever even attending.

Then, of course, there’s the issue of whether he actually lives where he says he does. A reporter for The New York Times, seeking comment for their reporting, went to an address from which Mr Santos has previously used to vote and which appeared on a campaign donation he made in October; the woman who appeared at the door said she had never heard of him.

Mr Santos has responded to none of these disrepancies, or offered any explanation for why persons at Citigroup and Baruch College were disputing his claims. Instead, he has focused on insulting journalists at The Times, and did so again Monday evening in a statement from Joseph Murray, his attorney.

“It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at The New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations,” wrote Mr Murray in the statement shared on Mr Santos’ Twitter account.

The blustery statement continued with a supposed quote attributed to former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill, which appears to have been said by Victor Hugo, a member of the French Senate in the 1800s.

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life,” wrote Mr Murray.

The bizarre statement erroneously referred to TheTimes’s reporting, which quotes other persons and did not include the reporters’ own assertions, as “attacks”. Republicans have increasingly sought to drive hostility against members of the media in response to critical coverage in recent years. Failed Republican candidate Kari Lake did so at a recent appearance where she blamed the media for not covering her remarks before insulting those reporters who did.

Mr Santos is likely to face more scrutiny going forward and the disrepencies in his statements about his background could be a weight on his shoulders in 2024, when he will face reelection in the purple New York district he is set to represent.

Democrats in the state are being harshly criticised by many of their own as well as from elections analysts on social media in the wake of the story, particularly since Mr Santos won his race without the revelations in the Times’s reporting coming to light.

His victory in the district was crucial to the GOP’s takeover of the House. Republicans are set to have just a nine-seat advantage over Democrats come January.