The chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee said on Tuesday that he is “deeply disappointed” in the recent revelations about Rep.-elect George Santos’s (R-N.Y.) background.
“Congressman-Elect George Santos has broken the public trust by making serious misstatements regarding his background, experience and education, among other issues,” Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo said in a statement.
Santos — who was elected in November to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Nassau County — admitted on Monday to lying about his education and work experience while campaigning for Congress.
Despite previously claiming he had graduated from Baruch College in New York, Santos told the New York Post on Monday that he had not received a degree from Baruch or “any institution of higher learning.” He also admitted that he had “never worked directly” with Goldman Sachs or Citigroup after making such claims on the campaign trail.
“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said in an interview with the outlet.
However, Cairo said in Tuesday’s statement that he “expected more than just a blanket apology” from the congressman-elect.
“He has a lot of work to do to regain the trust of voters and everyone who he represents in Congress,” he added.
The county GOP chairman also acknowledged the “profound” damage Santos’s lies about his heritage have caused to those who have been impacted by the Holocaust.
Santos, who has since clarified that he identifies religiously as Catholic, previously claimed he had Jewish heritage and that his maternal grandparents fled the Nazi persecution of Jews in Europe during World War II.
“Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish,’” Santos told the New York Post on Monday.
Despite calls from across the aisle for the congressman-elect to resign over his “whopping lies,” Cairo did not urge Santos to step down, instead saying that he “must do the public’s will in Washington.”
“Residents want him to deliver tax relief and pass laws that will make our neighborhoods and our nation safe,” Cairo said. “What’s more, George Santos will have to continually prove that he has learned his lesson.”