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“It’s done when I say it’s done”: Santos drags House Ethics Committee in X Spaces convo

In a three-hours-long Spaces chat on Friday, Santos reflects on his days as an "it girl" in Congress

Senior Culture Editor

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Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) speaks with reporters after a vote on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) speaks with reporters after a vote on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Over the course of a three-hours-long X Spaces conversation on Friday, Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., dragged the House Ethics Committee and many of his peers in Congress up one side of the internet and down the other while addressing his time as a former "it girl," as he calls himself, expressing the opinion that he's been made into both a punchline and a punching bag during his first and possibly only term. 

Speaking to host Monica Matthews, Santos said he quickly went from the win of being the first openly-gay Republican elected to Congress to someone whose name is used primarily for "click-bait," admitting to making mistakes, and saying that he won't live long enough to apologize for all of them, at this point. But on that subject, he furthers that resigning would be admitting to everything that's on the 56-page report released by the ethics committee on November 16, and he's not about to do that, saying, "I'm not leaving. Come hell or high water, it's done when I say it's done." But although he's not leaving, he also has no plans to run for re-election, saying he doesn't "want to work with a bunch of hypocrites," meaning other members of Congress who he says are “more worried about getting drunk every night with the next lobbyist that they’re going to screw and pretend like none of us know what’s going on.”

“If you want to expel me, I’ll wear it like a badge of honor,” Santos furthered. “I’ll be the sixth expelled member of Congress.”

Listen to the full conversation here:

 

By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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