Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie celebrated the expulsion of former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) Friday.
“I think it was the right thing to do to expel George Santos, he’s a liar and a thief,” Christie said in a CNN interview Friday evening. “He needed to be expelled from Congress. He should have never been there in the first place.”
Santos was ousted from office in a 311-114-2 vote, the third attempt to remove him and the first after a scathing House Ethics Committee report that alleging he broke campaign finance law and lied to donors.
105 Republicans joined Democrats in the vote. Christie said those Republicans “did the right thing,” and he would have done the same had he been a member of Congress.
Santos faces 23 criminal charges for his alleged conduct, including wire fraud, identity theft and theft of public funds.
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He is the sixth ever member of the House to be expelled, and the first to do so without previously being convicted of a crime.
As he left the Capitol for the last time as a member Friday, Santos criticized Congress.
“To hell with this place,” he said. “The House voted — that’s their vote. They just set a new dangerous precedent for themselves.”