PARTY POOPER: Santos skips White House reception for new representatives
Less than a month in office, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) continues to dominate the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
This time, the pathological freshman congressman has joined his far-right colleagues in rebuffing the White House’s welcome reception for new representatives.
“Everyone is invited who is part of the new Congress,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the bi-partisan event.
Rep. Santos wasn’t the only lawmaker from New York to skip the event.
First-time Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY) — who has publicly condemned his colleague for his lies — blames White House coronavirus protocols for his absence, the New York Post reported.
“Out of protest, I will not be attending President Biden’s gathering of Freshman House Members at the White House this week. Even though four months ago the President told ’60 Minutes’ that the pandemic is over, the White House is today enforcing arbitrary, outdated, and unscientific pandemic protocols upon members of Congress who accepted the President’s invitation to meet him at the White House,” Rep. LaLota declared in a statement.
Despite increased calls for Santos’ removal coming from both sides of the aisle — including investigating whether the habitually lying congressman violated campaign finance laws — the openly gay Republican refuses to step down.
“Look, he’s a bad guy,” Rep. James Comer (R-KY) told CNN. “It’s not up to me or any member of Congress to determine whether he can be kicked out for lying. Now, if he broke campaign finance laws, then he will be removed,” the House’s new Oversight Committee chair said.
One longtime Republican was less gracious when describing Rep. Santos — likening the suspicious lawmaker to Glenn Close’s unhinged character in the 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction.
“That’s why I called him a bunny boiler,” Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) said of Santos. “I don’t know if you’ve seen Fatal Attraction but there are people like that out there.”
“He’s nutty as a fruitcake,” the Senator added.
"He's nutty as a fruitcake," Sen. John Kennedy, the Republican from Louisiana, says of Rep. George Santos: "That's why I called him a bunny boiler. I don't know if you've seen 'Fatal Attraction' but there are people like that out there," per @alizaslav @jessicadean
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 23, 2023
Since being sworn in three weeks ago, controversy has dogged first-time lawmaker Santos.
The latest hit came from revelations that he performed in drag under the name Kitara Ravache when living in Brazil.
Without any real allies in Capitol Hill, the GOP appears to be keeping the controversial representative at arm’s length, except that Speaker McCarthy still allowed him to serve on two House committees.
Blowing off an invitation from his commander-in-chief certainly won’t do Santos any favors – or garner any friends – on the other side of the aisle either.
Original reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt at Reuters.
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