The Republican Jewish Coalition will not welcome GOP Congressman-elect George Santos at any future events after he admitted to lying about his Jewish heritage, education and work experience.
In his campaign biography, Santos claimed that his grandparents were born in Ukraine and escaped the Holocaust by fleeing to Belgium and then eventually Brazil, raising the question if he was actually Jewish amid his string of uncovered lies.
On Tuesday, the Republican Jewish Coalition released a statement condemning Santos for his misrepresentations.
‘We are very disappointed in Congressman-elect Santos. He deceived us and misrepresented his heritage. In public comments and to us personally he previously claimed to be Jewish. He has begun his tenure in Congress on a very wrong note. He will not be welcome at any future RJC event,’ CEO Matt Brooks said.
Amid skepticism over his Jewish background, The Forward, a Jewish publication, did some digging into genealogy website myheritage.com and reported that his grandparents had been born in Brazil, not Ukraine as Santos had said.
In response to the allegations, Santos told the New York Post that he is Catholic, though his grandmother told him stories about being Jewish and converting to Catholicism.
The New York Times last week reported that Santos’ claims about being employed in the financial industry and working for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup could not be verified, along with a host of other statements on his resume that appeared to be unsupported or outright falsehoods.
Santos, who won the election in November to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District, admitted to the falsehoods in an interview with the Post, saying he ‘never worked directly’ with either of the companies.
The congressman-elect also admitted to never graduating from college, despite claiming to have done so throughout his campaign.
‘I’m embarrassed, and sorry for having embellished my resume,’ Santos said, admitting he fabricated the truth before winning his election. ‘I own up to that…We do stupid things in life.’
After the report, it was also revealed that Santos, who is openly gay, did not disclose before his election that he was married to a woman in 2020.
Despite facing backlash for making several false claims throughout his campaign, Santos said it will not affect his time in Congress.
‘I am not a criminal,’ he told the Post. ‘This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.’
Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Houston Keene contributed to this report.