State of the Union 2023: George Santos invites 9/11 firefighter as guest
Misty Severi
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Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has invited a 9/11 first responder as his guest for Tuesday’s State of the Union, who helped with rescue operations as a firefighter at Ground Zero.
Michael Weinstock, who agreed to be Santos’s guest despite being a Democrat who ran for the congressional seat that Santos is holding, said he accepted the invitation because he wanted to raise awareness of a neurological condition he got through his work at Ground Zero.
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“I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll be able to stay focused enough on the issue of 9/11 responders receiving the healthcare that they need without being sullied by George Santos,” Weinstock told the New York Times.
Weinstock said he has complex regional pain syndrome, a chronic nerve disorder in which patients develop long-term pain in an injured area of the body. In Weinstock’s case, the pain is in his foot.
Weinstock’s condition was caused by inhaling pollutants during his rescue efforts, he claimed. A couple of studies have found a connection to nerve conditions like Weinstock’s and 9/11 rescue workers, the New York Times noted. However, the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides healthcare to 9/11 survivors and responders, does not offer medical coverage for nerve conditions.
Santos, who has come under scrutiny for stating falsehoods and inaccuracies about many things in his past, including a family tie to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, confirmed the invitation on the House floor on Monday.
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Santos claimed that his mother was in one of the twin towers when they collapsed. However, immigration records claim she was out of the country during the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001. He also claimed on social media in 2021 that his mother died five years ago.
He has since said that his mother died from cancer that was from being in the World Trade Center and did not die in the collapse.