Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Thursday blamed the local Nassau County GOP for his “embellished resume,” as the freshman lawmaker continues to face intense media scrutiny over his background.
“I would have never gotten the nomination from Nassau County GOP if I had not concluded college,” Santos said in an interview with Newsmax on Thursday.
“To say that I deceived, and it was a campaign of deceit and deception is just not fair. That’s just the political spin that the Nassau County GOP wants to create on this narrative,” he added.
Santos first admitted in December to lying about his education and work experience. Despite his claims on the campaign trail, Santos did not attend Baruch College or any other university, and never worked for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs.
After previously describing himself as a “proud American Jew” and claiming that his grandparents fled persecution in Europe during the Holocaust, Santos later clarified that he identifies as Catholic and only meant that he was “Jew-ish.”
The New York Republican has also been accused of lying about a litany of other things, including that he attended a prestigious prep school in New York, that his mother died from 9/11-related causes and that he knew several victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. His finances are also currently the subject of multiple investigations.
“I’m human; I’ve made mistakes,” Santos said in Thursday’s interview. “I’ve made peace with those mistakes, and I’ve come clean on those mistakes.”
“I want to be judged based on my actions,” he added. “If you look at my report card, I stand right now as one of the most conservative members of Congress, keeping to my word that I will vote conservatively for the people of New York’s 3rd Congressional District.”
His comments come as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for him to resign.