Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) agreed he has “been a terrible liar” during a new interview with television host Piers Morgan, who pushed the embattled lawmaker to reflect on his admitted resume fabrications.
The comment came from a clip of Santos’s interview with Morgan, which is set to air on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” Monday night.
“I was a Wall Street superstar, I was this, my family were this, and it was all untrue,” Morgan said to Santos, noting his previous lies. “I don’t characterize these as mistakes. I think they’re part of your process of, cathartic process of redemption if you’d like. It’s gotta start from ‘I’ve been a terrible liar,’ I mean, would you be prepared to say that?”
“Sure, like I said,” Santos started saying before being interrupted by Morgan, who urged him to “go on then.”
“Well, I’ve been a terrible liar on those subjects,” Santos said.
The freshman lawmaker has come under intense criticism since even before being sworn into office over questions about his background and finances. In December, Santos admitted to embellishing parts of his resume — including details on his education and work history — but the scrutiny around him has only grown more intense, prompting bipartisan calls for his resignation from his congressional colleagues.
Santos, however, has remained adamant that he has no plans to step down. A number of entities are said to be looking into the New York Republican, especially his questionable finances, and others have received complaints requesting investigations.
During his interview with Morgan, Santos said he did not lie to deceive people, but rather to be “accepted” by the local party.
“What I tried to convey to the American people is I made mistakes of allowing the pressures of what I thought needed to be done in order to — this, this wasn’t about tricking anybody, this wasn’t about, it’s —” Santos said.
Morgan cut him off, responding, “Yes, it was.”
“No, no, no, let me finish,” Santos said.
“The whole thing was about tricking people,” Morgan said.
“Let me finish,” Santos responded. “It wasn’t about tricking the people. This was about getting accepted by the party here locally.”
Last month, Republicans in Nassau County — some of which falls in Santos’s 3rd Congressional District — called on the congressman to resign from office.