New York Republican Representative George Santos questioned Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney's Mormon values after Romney told Santos "You don't belong here" during President Joe Biden's State of the Union address.
Romney apparently made the remark after noticing how Santos positioned himself to try to "shake hands" with everyone at the event, which has received bipartisan praise but has nonetheless raised the ire of Republican leaders who've bristled over some of Biden's remarks, including his criticism of Republicans looking to gut Social Security and Medicare.
You can watch footage of their interaction below.
Santos appeared hurt by Romney's words, characterizing them as "reprehensible" in remarks to reporters:
“It’s not the first time in history that I’ve been told to shut up and go to the back of the room, especially by people who come from a privileged background, and it’s not gonna be the last and I’m never gonna shut up and go to the back of the room.”
“I think it’s reprehensible that the senator would say such a thing to me in the demeaning way he said it. It wasn't very Mormon of him."You can hear what Santos said in the video below.
Santos has been mired in scandal since New York Times reporters unearthed multiple lies he'd told about his life story. He now faces ethics investigations amid allegations that he violated campaign finance law. He also faces a fraud investigation in Brazil, where he used to reside.
Although Santos admitted to "embellishing" his résumé and questions remain about his education, work history and even his source of income, he has not heeded calls to step down from Congress, instead assuring GOP officials he will not run in 2024.
Romney later told reporters that he was embarrassed by Santos' shamelessness:
“I didn’t expect he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States. Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and the people coming into the room.”
“He says he, you know, that he embellished his record. Look, embellishing is saying you got an A when you got an A-. Lying is saying you graduated from a college that you didn’t even attend and he shouldn’t be in Congress and they’re gonna go through the process and hopefully get him out.”
“But he shouldn’t be there and if he had any shame at all he wouldn’t be there.”
You can hear what Romney said in the video below.
Many have praised Romney for speaking out and joined him in condemning Santos.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has confirmed Santos is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee as pressure mounts on Santos to resign.
This week, Politico reported Santos was charged with theft in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country in 2017 "after a series of bad checks were written in his name to dog breeders."
The news adds to what the news outlet referred to as his "dizzying array of scandals," including those that relate to his service dog charity scheme tied to Friends of Pets United, which at one point conned a veteran out of funds they needed to pay to have their service dog's tumor removed.
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