George Santos unwittingly trolls former colleague on Cameo after House expulsion: Latest
Disgraced former Congressman charges $200 for single video greeting
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Former Congressman George Santos is selling videos on Cameo, the site where celebrities offer short greetings for a fee.
Mr Santos was expelled from the House on Friday after more than a hundred Republicans joined almost all Democrats in voting to remove him from the chamber.
The 35-year-old describes himself as a “former congressional ‘Icon’” on the site, where he charges $200 per video. In one message, he told the buyer to “live life, laugh, and let the haters hate because they’re always gonna hate”.
Options to request include holiday messages, birthday wishes, some gossip, a pep talk, a roast, or some advice.
Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman’s social media team sent in a request for Mr Santos to do a pep talk for “Bobby from Jersey” in reference to New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez who stepped down as chair of the foreign relations committee after being indicted for allegedly taking bribes and acting as a foreign agent.
Mr Santos has joined only a handful of lawmakers ever ousted from their role, following a damning 56-page report from the House Ethics Committee which outlined “substantial evidence” that Mr Santos violated federal law.
George Santos responds to comedian Ziwe’s interview request: ‘Let’s do it’
Former Congressman George Santos has told satirist Ziwe that he’d be interested in taking part in a pay-per-view interview.
Writing on X/Twitter, Ziwe asked: “.@MrSantosNY would you be interested in a pay-per-view interview? you’d be an iconic guest”
Santos responded: “Let’s do it @ziwe” along with the winking emoji with its tongue out.
Hours later, the politician tweeted “Great chatting with you just now” at Ziwe, apparently confirming that the interview had taken place.
Earlier, Ziwe had responded to an X user who posted photos of Santos and Ziwe with the caption: “This interview would irreversibly change the course of history.” Ziwe replied by calling the proposal “my literal dream.”
Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives on Friday after more than a hundred Republicans joined almost all Democrats in voting to remove him from the chamber.
‘Maybe I should have drank more wine and berated my staffers'
GOP congressman filmed threatening ex-staffer in expletive-filled tirade
‘You f*** with my family, I’ll end every relationship you have’
Matt Gaetz frets about House GOP’s precarious majority after George Santos exit
Florida Rep Matt Gaetz is worried.
The controversial right-wing lawmaker fears that following the expulsion of disgraced former congressman George Santos, the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives is in peril
Specifically, he believes that other GOP lawmakers may also soon exit the lower chamber of Congress.
Speaking on The Charlie Kirk Show, Mr Gaetz, who in October led the ousting of former speaker Kevin McCarthy, said: “Our willingness to self-mutilate on these things really impairs our ability to get the job done.”
He called the expulsion of Mr Santos “tactically stupid” in the context of the narrow majority.
“Congressman Bill Johnson of Ohio has taken a college university presidency that can knock us down to two. And I don’t really think Kevin McCarthy is sticking around long,” he said.
As The Independent has reported, there are signs that Mr McCarthy is heading toward a possible exit from Congress following his unceremonious defenestration by Mr Gaetz.
VIDEO: Rep. George Santos expelled from Congress for fraud, ethical violations
VIDEO: House votes overwhelmingly to oust George Santos amid federal indictments
What happens now?
By state law, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has to announce a special election within ten days of the seat becoming vacant, with the election then being held within between 70 and 80 days – about two and a half months.
This means that following Mr Santos’s Friday ouster, his replacement will be chosen on or before 29 February 2024.
Who could replace Santos?
In a special election, the party nominees are chosen by local party leaders, not in a primary. Partly because of redistricting, House seats in the Empire State have become a surprising battleground for what usually are blue seats.
For the last two decades, Democrats have held the Long Island and Queens district, and Mr Santos himself believes that the man who preceded him is likely to get the Democratic nomination to return to Congress following his ouster.
The Democrats
Anna Kaplan
Former New York State Senator Anna Kaplan has backed reproductive rights, gun safety measures, as well as economic development. She’s the first political refugee and Iranian-American elected to the New York state senate, Axios notes.
In 2018, she won her state senate seat back from the Republicans.
On Thursday, before Mr Santos was removed from the House, Ms Kaplan wrote on X: “If George Santos is expelled tomorrow, the special election will be right around the corner. I am battle-tested, and I am ready to flip New York’s 3rd Congressional District blue. We’ve already raised over $1 million. We’re just getting started.”
Mr Santos responded, writing: “Too bad that the Democratic Party in NY doesn’t believe in giving you a chance. You will be passed up for Suozzi, keep in mind that your party leadership is sexist and the little boys club will pass you up for one of them! Party of progress and inclusion, yeah right!”
Tom Souzzi
Rep Thomas Souzzi represented the third congressional district in the state between 2017 and 2023. He didn’t run for re-election in 2022 to instead run against Ms Hochul for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, a race he lost. Mr Santos triumphed over the Democratic nominee Robert Zimmerman by 54 to 46 per cent in 2022.
Mr Souzzi beat Mr Santos when the 35-year-old made his first run for Congress in 2020 by 55.9 per cent to 43.4 per cent.
Mr Souzzi announced in October that he would run to take back his old seat.
Austin Cheng
The US Army veteran and lawyer states on his campaign site that he’s pushing for healthcare reform.
“Like so many of my friends and neighbors, I’ve had enough of the polarization, political noise, and the ‘us’ vs ‘them’ fighting of today’s politicians. It’s time our district had a leader committed to civility, collaboration, and people-first solutions, so I’m stepping up to be part of the solution and continue serving the country and community that has given so much to me,” he writes on the site.
Steve Behar
A small business owner and lawyer, Mr Behar was previously the counsel to the New York State Senate and New York City Council, his site states.
“Steve spent six years as Counsel to New York City Council Member Barry Grodenchik. Steve worked in both the District Office and the City Hall Office of the Council Member. In his role as Counsel, Steve was responsible for the Council Member’s policy, legislation, and land-use decisions. Steve prepped Council Member Grodenchik for all hearings and meetings of the Council at City Hall,” the page says.
While Mr Zimmerman, who Mr Santos bested in 2022, hasn’t announced his candidacy, he may be tapped by local party leaders for another run, Axios notes.
The Republicans
Jack Martins
Mr Martins, a recently elected state senator, is under consideration as a possible option for Republicans in the upcoming special election, according to Newsweek. He has called Mr Santos a “fraud”, and he has said that he should resign, adding that he wouldn’t work with him.
“These aren’t embellishments, these are lies, and George Santos is a fraud,” he said in January, according to National Journal.
Mazi Melesa Pilip
The Nassau County legislator was born in Ethiopia before she was airlifted to Israel, where she then served in the Israel Defence Forces. She’s seen as a possible GOP option, according to Semafor.
Kellen Curry
An alumn of the US Air Force Academy, he served in Afghanistan, and his campaign site also states that he was a VP and JP Morgan.
On 19 November, after Mr Santos said he wasn’t running for re-election, Mr Curry told The Independent: “George Santos is finally taking a step in the right direction, but our country is at a crossroads.”
“Today marks the beginning of a renewed focus on the issues that matter, instead of the distraction of the last 11 months,” he added.
Jim Ties
The president and CEO of the Security Traders Association, which is active in the financial services industry, calls himself a “political outsider with hands-on experience dealing with our federal government on national issues”.
Mike Sapraicone
The retired NYPD detective also describes himself as a “community volunteer, small business founder, and nationally-recognized security expert,” on his campaign site.
Greg Hach
A political novice, Mr Hach joined the Air Force and was stationed in Greece, his site states. He became a lawyer and later co-founded a law firm “months after the terrorist attacks on America and New York on September 11, 2001.”
How did the District vote in 2020 and what does it mean for the special election?
In the district, Mr Souzzi actually outperformed President Joe Biden, who beat then-President Donald Trump by 54.7 per cent to 44.3 per cent, while Mr Souzzi garnered the support of another 1.2 per cent of voters.
With the staggering amount of negative attention Mr Santos has received, it’s possible that those choosing to turn out in the special election will want to punish the Republican Party and return a Democrat to Congress.
The 2022 midterms were the first national elections following the inauguration of Mr Biden. The party holding the White House usually tend to lose seats in Congress in the midterms after winning the presidency. While the seat has been blue for decades, Republicans were expected to win the House as a whole and managed to do so, albeit with a much smaller margin than expected.
VOICES: George Santos may be gone - but there will be more of his kind
George Santos got what he wanted.
I first realised this about the now-expelled New York Republican during the speaker’s race in October, when he started shouting at a pro-Palestinian activist who had questioned him earlier. I had caught him coming out of the meeting room in the Longworth House Office Building and asked him about Jim Jordan when he caught the activist and shouted “you are human scum.”
Immediately, all of the reporters moved from covering the GOP disarray and zeroed in on him, effectively turning it into a reality show. And that’s how he wanted it. He got all of the Washington press corps, the House Republican conference and even some Democrats to play along with his charade as he distracted from his legal troubles.
That’s why the House vote to expel him will not deter him. He turned every attempt to shame him into an opportunity. Furthermore, Republicans in the House of Representatives have created an ecosystem that disincentivizes policymaking and instead elevates people who see Congress as a way to build their brand rather than make a difference.
And the press is just as guilty of giving him what he wants as anyone else. The perfect example came the day before his expulsion vote, when Mr Santos called a press conference in the bitter chill of November in Washington outside the Captiol at 8am on a Thursday. Despite these elements, he still had a swarm of reporters willing to hear him air his grievances and shout his questions, even as we knew he would blatantly lie.
George Santos threatens ex-colleagues with ethics complaints after expulsion
Having said he would leave Congress “graciously” were he expelled, disgraced former congressman George Santos appears out for revenge against those lawmakers who supported his expulsion in Friday’s landslide vote.
After his exit from the Capitol on Friday afternoon there was silence from the ex-Republican congressman.
That is, until 11.35pm when he took to his personal account on X and wrote of his intention to file ethics complaints against four of his former colleagues. The Independent has contacted their offices for comment.
First in his firing line was fellow New York Republican Rep Nicole Malliotakis.
Mr Santos made allegations of insider trading against the Staten Island congresswoman while making insinuations about her personal life. He added that he would be filing an ethics complaint about her.
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