US Rep. George Santos has claimed that he was the target of an assassination attempt, after facing calls to resign from fellow New York Republicans over his fantastic lies about his life history.
Santos made the assassination claim in an interview with a Brazilian podcast last month, in which he also claimed he was mugged on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue by assailants who stole his shoes.
'In the summer of 2021, in the middle of Fifth Avenue at 55th (Street), I was mugged by two men,' Santos told the Rádio Novelo podcast in Portuguese, according to a video of the interview published by MSNBC on Monday.
He continued: 'Before asking any questions, they weren't black, they were white as a matter of fact, but they robbed me, took my briefcase, took my shoes and my watch. And that was in broad daylight.'
'It was 3pm. I was leaving my office, going to the garage, getting my car and I was mugged,' he claimed. 'In the middle of Fifth Avenue. And that wasn't the worst of it, nobody did anything.'
Rep. George Santos has claimed that he was the target of an assassination attempt, and that he was mugged on Fifth Avenue in broad daylight by assailants who stole his shoes
Fifth Avenue is seen last month during a temporary closure to car traffic. Santos claims his shoes were stolen on the busy thoroughfare in the middle of the afternoon
The podcast hosts wrote in a skeptical article that they had asked Santos for a police report to substantiate his mugging claims, but haven't heard back.
In the interview, recorded on December 7 shortly before his many bizarre fabrications came to light, Santos also casually referred to an alleged attempt on his life while describing an incident of home vandalism.
'In 2020, in Florida, I'm going to a New Year's Eve party with my husband. We go back to our house. It was vandalized because we were at a Republican Party in Florida in 2020. So that's it. I've experienced vandalism,' he said.
'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 said.
Santos was thrust into the spotlight when he admitted to lying about his college and career credentials late last month.
He is also wanted by prosecutors in Brazil for allegedly stealing an ailing man's checkbook, and spent a year working for a U.S. company that the SEC branded a 'Ponzi scheme.'
Santos was thrust into the spotlight when he admitted to lying about his college and career credentials late last month
Asked about photos that appear to show him in drag, Santos said 'I was young and I had fun at a festival' but insisted he was 'not a drag queen in Brazil'
On Saturday, Santos coyly responded to multiple credible reports, based on photos and witness interviews, that he had performed as a drag queen in Brazil.
The 34-year-old lawmaker, who is openly gay, said he was 'not a drag queen in Brazil' but that he 'had fun' in his youth when confronted about a photo supposedly depicting him in a dress and sporting long hair and heavy makeup.
'I was young and I had fun at a festival. Sue me for having a life,' he told reporters at La Guardia Airport, according to CNN.
'The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or “performed” as a drag Queen is categorically false,' Santos said in a tweet.
'The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life while I am working to deliver results. I will not be distracted nor fazed by this.'
He later posted, responding to another damaging claim, 'The reports that I would let a dog die is shocking & insane.'
It came after a military veteran told a number of different outlets that Santos had presented himself as 'Anthony Devolder,' his middle names, and agreed to help raise money for his service dog's cancer surgery.
Santos allegedly ended up disappearing with the money, and the dog had to be put down. Her owner said he was forced to panhandle for enough money to pay for the procedure to put the dog out of her misery.
But Santos defended himself, 'My work in animal advocacy was the labor of love & hard work.'
'Over the past 24hr I have received pictures of dogs I helped rescue throughout the years along with supportive messages. These distractions won’t stop me!' he said.
But according to a new poll from the Siena College Research Institute, people living in the Empire State - including his Queens/Long Island district - are tired of the steady drip of new revelations.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they want Santos to resign, compared to just 17 percent who said they want him to stay on Capitol Hill.
Just under a quarter said they had no opinion on his political career. His overall favorability rating is also low, at just 16 percent.
Even among fellow Republicans, a 49-percent plurality wants him out of Congress.
English (United States) ·