Republican Jewish Coalition bans George Santos over fabricated background
Juliegrace Brufke
Video Embed
The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) said it is banning Rep.-elect George Santos (R-NY) after news emerged that he fabricated large parts of his resume and misrepresented his heritage.
Santos has come under fire in the wake of reports dispelling a claim on his campaign website that his mother is Jewish and his grandparents — who were born in Brazil, according to records obtained by the Forward — “fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.”
DEMOCRATS CALL ON REP.-ELECT GEORGE SANTOS TO RESIGN AMID REPORTS HE FABRICATED RESUME DETAILS
“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,” the influential conservative group said. “He will not be welcome at any future RJC event.
While Santos — who spoke about his Jewish ancestry during the RJC’s annual leadership conference in November and referred to himself as a “proud American Jew” in a campaign position document — admitted in an interview that he embellished substantial parts of his background, he dismissed claims that he misrepresented his religious beliefs or heritage.
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” he told the New York Post. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Despite a growing number of Democrats calling for him to step down due to his lies about his education, work history, address, and allegations he may have intentionally falsified information on his financial disclosures, Santos has asserted that he plans to take office in January.
“I’m gonna look through and see everything, and just like they nitpicked at me, now it’s gonna be my time to nitpick at both journalists who made it their mission to slander me across this country and across the world, and let’s see what happens at the end,’ he told WABC. “But the one thing is, I will be sworn in, I will take office, I will be able to be an effective member of the legislator [sic.] in the soon-to-be 118th Congress.”