Today’s the big day, when Republicans, albeit narrowly, take control of the House of Representatives. But, as they meet to elect a new Speaker of the House, what should be a triumphal moment for House Republicans has turned out instead to be a monumental embarrassment — or, as one Republican member told Politico, a “big belly-flop.”
Despite agreeing to give up some of his authority and power as Speaker, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) reportedly still doesn’t have enough votes to win. The result is pure chaos. The “Kevin Only” crowd has vowed not to vote for anyone else, while the “Never Kevin” gang still can’t come up with a candidate to replace him. And, in desperation, some Republicans are beating the bushes looking for anybody — even a former member or non-member of Congress — willing to take the job.
Meanwhile, the perfect candidate is staring them right in the face. Why all the confusion? There’s one obvious answer — the one man who, in the spirit of Donald Trump, embodies everything the Republican Party stands for today. The one man who’s perfect for the job: New York’s newly elected Rep. George Santos.
Of course, naysayers in the media will contend that Republicans could never elect Santos because he doesn’t tell the truth. But they’re missing the point. Santos is a Trump Republican. He’s not expected to tell the truth. That’s why McCarthy has not uttered one word of criticism of Santos. After all, he and congressional Republicans never held Donald Trump responsible for all the lies he told as president — 30,573 in four years, according to the Washington Post. Why should they now hold George Santos responsible? Telling the truth no longer matters.
In fact, for many Republicans, the only legitimate criticism of Santos is not that he lied at all, but that his lies, though legion, are not of the same scale and importance as Donald Trump’s. True, Santos told a lot of whoppers. Among other falsities, as duly reported by the New York Times, candidate Santos said he graduated from Baruch College. (He did not.) He said he worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. (He did not.) He said he owned 13 properties. (He does not.)
Santos also lied about his family. He said his family name was actually Zabrovsky. (It’s not.) He said his mother immigrated from Belgium. (She did not.) He said she was in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and died “a few years later.” (She was not; she died in 2016.) He said his grandparents were Ukrainian Jews who survived the Holocaust. (They were not. They were born in Brazil.) He claimed that his family was Jewish, but later said he only meant they were “Jew-ish.”
No matter how hard they dig, reporters have been hard-pressed to find anything Santos said about himself or his family that’s true. Nevertheless, his lies pale compared to those told by Trump, who still claims, among thousands of other outrageous untruths, that the crowd at his inauguration was the biggest in history; that 5 million people voted illegally for Hillary Clinton in 2016; that he won the 2020 election, and that the armed mob that assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6 were “patriots” and “peaceful people.”
But that doesn’t disqualify Santos. Next to Donald Trump himself, he’s still appears to be the Republican Party’s biggest liar, which makes him the perfect candidate to lead Republicans in the House. George Santos for Speaker!
Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”