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George Santos news - live: Scandal-hit congressman complains at being called ‘nutty fruitcake bunny boiler’

Embattled New York Republican George Santos is “saddened” that his fellow party member John Kennedy called him “nutty as a fruitcake” and a “bunny boiler” – a reference to Glenn Close’s unhinged, psychotic character in the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction.

Mr Santos responded to the Louisiana Republican’s comments yesterday. “I am saddened that a distinguished senator from the GOP, whom I’ve respected would use such derogatory language against me,” he said. “Language like that is hurtful and divisive, and has no place in Congress,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Brazilian drag queen is giving more details about the early life of Mr Santos.

The drag artist, who knew Mr Santos when he lived in the country, revealed more about the congressman’s political past in a new interview with Insider.

Eula Rochard explained that Mr Santos had once been a proud supporter of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – the current left-wing president of Brazil.

Mr Santos has also now come under scrutiny for claiming that he survived an unidentified assassination attempt.

Key points

  • George Santos ‘saddened’ after Republican senator calls him ‘nutty fruitcake bunny boiler’

  • George Santos claims he survived assassination attempt

  • George Santos ‘surprise’ for journalists revealed

  • Publisher of Long Island newspaper knew something was up with Santos years before election win

  • Voters want George Santos to resign, poll finds

George Santos ‘saddened’ after Republican senator calls him ‘nutty fruitcake bunny boiler’

06:18 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Embattled New York Republican George Santos is “saddened” that his fellow party member John Kennedy called him “nutty as a fruitcake” and a “bunny boiler” – a reference to Glenn Close’s unhinged, psychotic character in the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction.

Mr Santos responded to the Louisiana Republican’s comments on Tuesday. “I am saddened that a distinguished senator from the GOP, whom I’ve respected would use such derogatory language against me,” he said.

“Language like that is hurtful and divisive, and has no place in Congress,” he added.

Read the full story here:

George Santos ‘saddened’ after Republican senator calls him ‘bunny boiler’

Drag artist claims George Santos was liberal in Brazil but ‘went crazy’ when he moved to US

08:00 , John Bowden

A Brazilian drag artist who knew George Santos when he lived in the country revealed more about the congressman’s political past in a new interview with Insider.

Eula Rochard explained in her latest interview that Mr Santos had once been a proud supporter of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — the current president of Brazil, who recently returned to office after successfully battling corruption charges he and his supporters argued were politically motivated.

The support for Lula and his history as a drag performer would be politically insignificant were it not for the conservative right’s current fixation on drag shows, drag performers as well as all LGBT Americans.

Read more from John Bowden:

Drag artist claims George Santos was liberal but ‘went crazy’ when he moved to US

ICYMI: More footage of George Santos at drag show surfaces

06:30 , John Bowden

The Twitter account PatriotTakes, operated by political activists aligned with the Democratic Party, has surfaced another Brazilian news clip revealing George Santos in drag dancing with other drag queens. He has denied particpating extensively in the culture.

It isn’t exactly clear where the clip is from, but Mr Santos can be seen wearing the same costume he wore in the original pictures provided to TMZ and other news outlets by a drag queen who knew him at the time, Eula Rochard.

Voices: Why Kevin McCarthy can’t quit George Santos

05:00 , John Bowden

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy – let alone the rest of GOP leadership – likely can’t afford to abandon George Santos for one simple reason – math.

Had Mr Santos hailed from a redder district, it might be easier to give him the boot. But Mr Santos is one of 18 Republicans who represent a district that President Joe Biden won in 2022. Mr Biden won New York’s 3rd District by eight points and a Democrat previously held the seat. Mr Santos mostly won the seat by accident: Governor Kathy Hochul dramatically underperformed in Long Island in November’s election and Republicans won four seats in the area.

Mr Santos mostly reaped the benefits of Democratic incompetence in the region, and they would likely not be caught napping if the seat were to open up.

Read more:

Why Kevin McCarthy can’t quit George Santos

George Santos now claims he survived assassination attempt

03:30 , John Bowden

Embattled GOP Rep George Santos has now come under scrutiny for claiming that he survived an unidentified assassination attempt.

The Republican, who has already admitted to making several lies during his run for Congress, made the wild allegation during an interview with Brazilian podcast “Rádio Novelo Apresenta” last month.

“We have already suffered an attempt on my life, an assassination attempt, a threatening letter, having to have the police – a police escort standing in front of our house,” he claimed.

Mr Santos did not elaborate on the alleged hit plot and is not thought to have mentioned it publicly prior to this. During the interview he also claimed he was mugged in on Fifth Avenue in New York City and that his Florida home was vandalised.

Read more from Gustaf Kilander:

Video emerges of George Santos saying he’s the victim of an assassination plot

Voters strongly favour embattled Rep George Santos resigning, poll finds

02:00 , John Bowden

A majority of New Yorkers want embattled Republican Representative George Santos to resign amid a flurry of reports that he fabricated large parts of his life story, according to a new Siena College poll.

A total of 59 per cent of registered voters said Mr Santos should resign from Congress, with 64 per cent of Democrats saying he should. A plurality of Republicans – 49 per cent – want Mr Santos to resign as well. That comes despite the fact that Mr Santos flipped a district on Long Island that had voted overwhelmingly for President Joe Biden.

Read more:

Voters strongly favour embattled Rep George Santos resigning, poll finds

George Santos complains about the comedians mocking him on late-night shows

00:30 , John Bowden

Claiming that he had now been “enshrined in late night TV history” following a wave of impressions of him on various comedy shows, George Santos declared on Monday that those mocking him needed to step up their game.

It was a Trump-esque response to the very serious issues he has been caught lying about. And it provoked a response from one of those comedians: Former SNL star Jon Lovitz.

Read more:

Comedian claps back after George Santos complaint over mockery

Santos’s FEC filing raises new questions about $500k campaign loan

Tuesday 24 January 2023 22:52 , John Bowden

George Santos filed an amended financial disclosure form with the FEC on Tuesday, and with it began the newest branch of this seemingly endless controversy.

The newly-sworn-in congressman has now admitted that two loans to his campaign, totaling $500,000 and $125,000, did not in fact originate from his personal funds, as previously claimed.

But even stranger is the lack of any information indicating where they are actually from — the new filings still indicate that the loans came “from the candidate” in some fashion, but no other facts are known for sure.

The loans could be related to a firm that The New York Times reported he had solicited political donations to, despite it not being registered with the FEC: RedStone Strategies.

Comedian claps back after George Santos complaint: ‘My pathological liar character can’t hold a candle to you!’

Tuesday 24 January 2023 21:24 , John Bowden

Comedian Jon Lovitz has clapped back at Congressman George Santos after the New York Republican complained about the comedians appearing on late night talk shows to mock him after he was caught in a litany of lies.

“I have now been enshrined in late night TV history with all these impersonations, but they are all TERRIBLE so far. Jon Lovitz is supposed to be one of the greatest comedians of all time and that was embarrassing – for him not me! These comedians need to step their game up,” Mr Santos tweeted on Monday night.

“Finally!!! You’re honest about something!!!” Mr Lovitz responded on Twitter.

See the rest of their exchange in The Independent:

Comedian claps back after George Santos complaint over mockery

‘He was weird’: Publisher of Long Island newspaper that exposed Santos knew something was up years before election win

Tuesday 24 January 2023 19:45 , John Bowden

The publisher of a Long Island newspaper that wrote the first exposé on George Santos said he suspected the congressman’s bad motivations during their first meeting, which took place years before his election win.

Grant Lally, the publisher of the North Shore Leader, thought he was a “completely non-serious candidate” after meeting him in 2020, during Mr Santos’ first run for office.

“He was weird,” Mr Lally told The Independent. “He acted strangely, he boasted, and at the same time he seemed to bask almost like a child in the attention he was getting.”

Richard Hall has the story from the congressman’s backyard:

‘He was weird’: Publisher of local newspaper that exposed Santos had doubts years ago

Drag artist claims George Santos was liberal in Brazil but ‘went crazy’ when he moved to US

Tuesday 24 January 2023 19:00 , John Bowden

A Brazilian drag artist who knew George Santos when he lived in the country revealed more about the congressman’s political past in a new interview with Insider.

Eula Rochard explained in her latest interview that Mr Santos had once been a proud supporter of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — the current president of Brazil, who recently returned to office after successfully battling corruption charges he and his supporters argued were politically motivated.

The support for Lula and his history as a drag performer would be politically insignificant were it not for the conservative right’s current fixation on drag shows, drag performers as well as all LGBT Americans.

Read more from John Bowden:

Drag artist claims George Santos was liberal but ‘went crazy’ when he moved to US

Santos causes problems for Elise Stefanik

Tuesday 24 January 2023 18:15 , John Bowden

GOP caucus chair Elise Stefanik is facing new questions over her role in getting George Santos elected to Congress.

A New York Republican like Mr Santos, Ms Stefanik is facing new critcism from some of her own allies as a result of her efforts to find willing donors to help support Mr Santos’s successful congressional bid. Many are questioning why she put her support so strongly behind a candidate who appears to have made up almost his entire resume.

Read the report at CNN:

ICYMI: More footage of George Santos at drag show surfaces

Tuesday 24 January 2023 17:30 , John Bowden

The Twitter account PatriotTakes, operated by political activists aligned with the Democratic Party, has surfaced another Brazilian news clip revealing George Santos in drag dancing with other drag queens. He has denied particpating extensively in the culture.

It isn’t exactly clear where the clip is from, but Mr Santos can be seen wearing the same costume he wore in the original pictures provided to TMZ and other news outlets by a drag queen who knew him at the time, Eula Rochard.

George Santos and the fascinating psychology of compulsive liars

Tuesday 24 January 2023 16:45 , John Bowden

Congressman George Santos seems to have lied about everything, from the straightforward to the utterly absurd.

Holly Baxter speaks to experts on lying — and reports on why we all become complicit when a prolific liar reels us in:

George Santos and the fascinating psychology of compulsive liars

George Santos complains about the comedians mocking him on late-night shows

Tuesday 24 January 2023 15:59 , John Bowden

Claiming that he had now been “enshrined in late night TV history” following a wave of impressions of him on various comedy shows, George Santos declared on Monday that those mocking him needed to step up their game.

It was a Trump-esque response to the very serious issues he has been caught lying about.

Read more:

George Santos complains about the comedians mocking him on late-night shows

White House press corps bursts out laughing at George Santos at briefing

Tuesday 24 January 2023 15:30 , John Bowden

The press corps burst out laughing at the question of whether George Santos was invited to the reception for new members of Congress at the White House.

On Monday during the White House press briefing, a reporter asked if the administration has “any guidance on how many new members the president intends to have?”

It was then that another reporter brought up whether Mr Santos would be attending.

Watch the moment here:

White House press corps bursts out laughing at George Santos at briefing

Santos leaves out coffee and donuts for stakeout reporters

Tuesday 24 January 2023 15:00 , John Bowden

George Santos’s “surprise” for the reporters staking out his office is finally revealed: He bought donuts!

It’s a very anticlimactic end to the latest episode of the increasingly strange saga of America’s most controversial congressman.

George Santos now claims he survived assassination attempt

Tuesday 24 January 2023 14:30 , John Bowden

Embattled GOP Rep George Santos has now come under scrutiny for claiming that he survived an unidentified assassination attempt.

The Republican, who has already admitted to making several lies during his run for Congress, made the wild allegation during an interview with Brazilian podcast “Rádio Novelo Apresenta” last month.

“We have already suffered an attempt on my life, an assassination attempt, a threatening letter, having to have the police – a police escort standing in front of our house,” he claimed.

Mr Santos did not elaborate on the alleged hit plot and is not thought to have mentioned it publicly prior to this. During the interview he also claimed he was mugged in on Fifth Avenue in New York City and that his Florida home was vandalised.

Read more from Gustaf Kilander:

Video emerges of George Santos saying he’s the victim of an assassination plot

George Santos ‘surprise’ revealed

Tuesday 24 January 2023 14:00 , David Taintor

George Santos promised a “surprise” for reporters at his office upon Congress returning this week. Turns out, the surprise was Dunkin Donuts outside. Reporters noticed a box of doughnuts and coffee set out.

Voices: Why Kevin McCarthy can’t quit George Santos

Tuesday 24 January 2023 13:00 , Eric Garcia

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy – let alone the rest of GOP leadership – likely can’t afford to abandon George Santos for one simple reason – math.

Had Mr Santos hailed from a redder district, it might be easier to give him the boot. But Mr Santos is one of 18 Republicans who represent a district that President Joe Biden won in 2022. Mr Biden won New York’s 3rd District by eight points and a Democrat previously held the seat. Mr Santos mostly won the seat by accident: Governor Kathy Hochul dramatically underperformed in Long Island in November’s election and Republicans won four seats in the area.

Mr Santos mostly reaped the benefits of Democratic incompetence in the region, and they would likely not be caught napping if the seat were to open up.

Read more:

Why Kevin McCarthy can’t quit George Santos

ICYMI: Even George Santos’ Twitter account is having issues

Tuesday 24 January 2023 11:30 , Eric Garcia

Late last week, Twitter appeared to suspend and then reinstate George Santos’ account – multiple times. The account flicked on and off before ultimately stabilising. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the outage. Mr Santos recently set up his official congressional Twitter account, as he gets up and running as a newly sworn in member of Congress.

Read more:

Confusion as Twitter appears to suspend and reinstate George Santos account

Santos causes problems for Elise Stefanik

Tuesday 24 January 2023 09:30 , John Bowden

GOP caucus chair Elise Stefanik is facing new questions over her role in getting George Santos elected to Congress.

A New York Republican like Mr Santos, Ms Stefanik is facing new critcism from some of her own allies as a result of her efforts to find willing donors to help support Mr Santos’s successful congressional bid. Many are questioning why she put her support so strongly behind a candidate who appears to have made up almost his entire resume.

Read the report at CNN:

From the first questions to GOP blowback : A timeline of George Santos’ many scandals

Tuesday 24 January 2023 08:00 , John Bowden

George Santos is officially a member of Congress following a marathon vote to select the GOP’s Speaker of the House and the swearing-in of the 118th Congress.

But it wasn’t even clear that he would make it this far: Dogged by surely one of the oddest scandals to hit American politics in the last few years, Mr Santos was facing calls for his expulsion and resignation even before he was seated as representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

As Mr Santos concludes his first month in the chamber, let’s take a look back at how this scandal evolved, from the beginning to now:

From first questions to GOP rebukes : A timeline of George Santos’ many scandals

George Santos follows in Trump’s footsteps by complaining about the quality of the comedians mocking him

Tuesday 24 January 2023 06:30 , John Bowden

Claiming that he had now been “enshrined in late night TV history” following a wave of impressions of him on various comedy shows, George Santos declared on Monday that those mocking him needed to step up their game.

It was a Trump-esque response to the very serious issues he has been caught lying about.

‘He was weird’: Publisher of Long Island newspaper that exposed Santos knew something was up years before election win

Tuesday 24 January 2023 05:00 , Richard Hall

The publisher of a Long Island newspaper that wrote the first exposé on George Santos said he suspected the congressman’s bad motivations during their first meeting, which took place years before his election win.

Grant Lally, the publisher of the North Shore Leader, thought he was a “completely non-serious candidate” after meeting him in 2020, during Mr Santos’ first run for office.

“He was weird,” Mr Lally told The Independent. “He acted strangely, he boasted, and at the same time he seemed to bask almost like a child in the attention he was getting.”

Read more:

‘He was weird’: Publisher of local newspaper that exposed Santos had doubts years ago

George Santos finally admits to drag queen past: ‘Sue me for having a life’

Tuesday 24 January 2023 03:00 , John Bowden

George Santos appears to have confirmed that he dressed or performed in drag on at least one occasion — the newest eyebrow-raising development in the scandal that has consumed one of Congress’s most junior members.

The admission came as Mr Santos returned home over the weekend to New York, where the Nassau County-area Republican got a change of scenery from the mobs of reporters questioning him on Capitol Hill and was instead interrogated by local reporters in his home district.

He confirmed to a local ABC affiliate that he was indeed the drag performer known as “Kitara Ravache” pictured in now multiple images supplied to reporters by former acquaintances from his past life in Brazil.

Read more:

George Santos finally admits to drag queen past: ‘Sue me for having a life’

Voters strongly favour embattled Rep George Santos resigning, poll finds

Tuesday 24 January 2023 01:30 , Eric Garcia

A majority of New Yorkers want embattled Republican Representative George Santos to resign amid a flurry of reports that he fabricated large parts of his life story, according to a new Siena College poll.

A total of 59 per cent of registered voters said Mr Santos should resign from Congress, with 64 per cent of Democrats saying he should. A plurality of Republicans – 49 per cent – want Mr Santos to resign as well. That comes despite the fact that Mr Santos flipped a district on Long Island that had voted overwhelmingly for President Joe Biden.

Read more:

Voters strongly favour embattled Rep George Santos resigning, poll finds

ICYMI: Every George Santos lie ... so far

Tuesday 24 January 2023 00:01 , John Bowden

It can be difficult keeping up with the list of fictions that George Santos has been accused of telling, admitted telling, or merely been caught spinning red-handed following a contradictory statement.

But, do not fret: The Independent is here, and we’re keeping track of the whole list of lies even as it continues to grow — both in number and in the sheer scale of the humiliation that it presents for not just Mr Santos, who remains adamant that he will serve two years in office as representative for New York’s third district, but for the Republican House caucus as a whole.

Read the latest from the talented Mr Santos below:

Every lie George Santos has been accused of making

Santos draws laughs at White House press briefing

Monday 23 January 2023 21:46 , John Bowden

Embattled GOP Rep George Santos provoked a laugh at Monday’s White House press briefing.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was speaking about new members of Congress being invited to meet the president, when a reporter quipped: “Is George Santos invited?”

The line drew a laugh from the room, and a remark from Ms Jean-Pierre: “I love how everybody laughed at that”.

Kinzinger: Santos is a ‘liar and a fraud'

Monday 23 January 2023 20:41 , John Bowden

One Republican who is not hesitating to denounce newly-elected Congressman George Santos is Adam Kinzinger, the former congressman who declined to run for reelection last year after serving on the January 6 committee.

Mr Kinzinger responded to the congressman’s promise of a “surprise” for journalists staking out his office with a simple rebuke on Sunday evening.