Trump is a “con man and a grifter” like George Santos: Ex-GOP congressman

A prominent former GOP lawmaker decried former President Donald Trump as the same sort of “grifter and con artist” as embattled New York Republican George Santos.

Santos was elected to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District in last November’s midterm election. Before he could actually be sworn in, however, reports emerged that he had fabricated numerous aspects of his backstory, including his education, employment history, charitable work, family history, and religious identity, among many others.

Santos has refused to resign from the House of Representatives, despite calls for him to do so from both sides of the aisle. On Wednesday, leaders of the Nassau County Republican Party called for his “immediate resignation,” and the list of GOP lawmakers adding their voices to that chorus has only grown since then.

On Sunday, Joe Walsh decried Santos during an appearance on MSNBC’s The Katie Phang Show. Walsh previously represented Illinois’ 8th Congressional District from 2011 to 2013 as a Republican, but later left the party after becoming a staunch critic of Trump—launching a failed presidential primary challenge against him. While critical of Santos, Walsh also wondered how the GOP could call for his resignation while Trump, whom he called a similar sort of “grifter and con artist,” is also running for president again in 2024.

“How can a party [that] has a con man and a grifter—who was the former president and now he’s running for president again, he’s the leader of the Republican Party, and he’s a con man and a grifter—how can they demand Santos resign when Trump is still there?” Walsh asked host Katie Phang.

So far, House Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, have been hesitant to call for action against Santos. Many pundits suspect that House GOP leaders are not addressing the issue over concerns that removing Santos from office would further jeopardize their already razor-thin majority over Democrats. Last week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that the issue would be handled “internally.”

“This is something that’s being handled internally,” Scalise said during a press conference. “Obviously, there were concerns about what we had heard, and so we’re going to have to sit down and talk to him about it.”

On Thursday, McCarthy said that, while he has “a long way to go to earn trust,” Santos is still “part of the Republican conference.” Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican and chair of the House GOP Conference, referred to Santos as “a duly elected member of Congress” in an interview with CNN.

Newsweek reached out to the offices of Santos and Trump for comment.