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When all was said and done in the 2022 midterms, the GOP’s “red wave” not only failed to materialize, but the marginal victory the party ultimately claimed in the House proved to be a sham.
For multiple reasons.
Republicans took over the House majority with the help of conservative gerrymandering and district-drawing that favored the GOP. This was most obvious in the numerous states where Republicans defied court orders instructing them not to use voting maps that were rigged in their favor. It was also evident in New York, where Democrats were ultimately forced to comply with a court order saying their maps needed to be drawn more favorably to Republicans.
Ultimately, those favorably drawn districts helped Republicans claim the House majority under dubious conditions, which is partly why George Santos, the farcical New York Republican representative-elect, is going to be the perfect poster boy for the House GOP.
Santos, who narrowly defeated an incumbent Democrat in New York’s redrawn 3rd District, was found to have lied extensively about his biography during his campaign.
After The New York Times published an investigation last week, Santos copped to having lied about having worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup (he never worked at either company), as well as lying about having gotten a degree from Baruch College in New York (he didn’t graduate from any college).
But, as my MSNBC colleague Steve Benen wrote Tuesday, Santos isn’t stepping down, claiming he still has work to do in Congress. This despite the fact there are still open questions as to whether Santos lied about his sexual orientation, his family background and his wealth. (In an interview Monday with City & State, Santos said he was sorry for having embellished his résumé. NBC News has tried to reach Santos for comment but has not received a response.)
It’s hard to imagine a more apt representation of the illegitimacy of the incoming House majority than this brazen liar who seems to have gotten over on his soon-to-be constituents. (And one who is reported to associate with neo-Nazis and white nationalists, at that.)
There’s no greater example of Republicans’ unabated thirst for power and the underhanded ways they’re willing to quench it. It’s also quite funny that House Republicans have been billing their conspiracy theory-driven agenda, which involves incessant probes of the Biden administration, as a quest to find truth.
Who better to do that than George Santos? Literally anyone.