Disgraced Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., says he is a terrible liar but assumed he would get away with his fabrications because no one had noticed them during his failed congressional run in 2020.
Santos made the admission during an interview with Piers Morgan released Monday. In the interview, Santos calls himself a "terrible liar," but justified his fabrications as an effort to get the local political establishment to accept him.
"It wasn’t about tricking people," he said. "This was about getting accepted by the party here locally."
Morgan then listed off a series of falsehoods that Santos had spread about himself, asking whether Santos would agree that he has been a "terrible liar."
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"Sure. Well, I’ve been a terrible liar on those subjects, and what I tried to convey to the American people is, I made mistakes," Santos responded.
Santos went on to explain why he thought a sitting congressman could get away with such blatant lies.
"To run for Congress of the United States and to just tell blatant lies about even your academic record – I’m just struck, not necessarily that a politician would lie, but that you would think no one would find out," Morgan said.
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"Well, I’ll humor you this. I ran in 2020 for the same exact seat for Congress and I got away with it then," Santos said.
"Fine," Morgan said. "Well that’s honest, stupid. So you thought, actually, that they’re not going to find out?"
"No, I didn’t think so," Santos replied. "But to that effect, it’s embarrassing, it’s humbling to have to admit your faults as a human being."
Santos has repeatedly refused to resign his position after admitting to lying about his education and work history during his 2022 campaign. The representative has vowed not to take any committee assignments but has entertained the possibility of running again in 2024.
Santos' local Republican Party chapter, the Nassau County GOP, called for Santos' resignation last month in no uncertain terms.
"George Santos campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies, and fabrication," Nassau County GOP Chairman Joe Cairo said in a statement. "He has no place on the Nassau County Republican committee, nor should he serve public service, nor as an elected official. He's not welcome here at GOP HQ."
Santos’ fabrications on his resume weren’t reported by The New York Times until after the election. Robert Zimmerman, a Democrat, lost to Santos by a 54% to 46%.
