(JNS) Newly elected U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is facing growing calls from members of his own party to step down amidst ongoing criticism of his fabricated background and alleged campaign finance violations. New York Republican Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Nick Langworthy, Nick LaLota and Brandon Williams have all called on Santos to resign.
“I want to make it clear that this is not our brand. That’s not what we stand for,” D’Esposito told CNN. “The district that I represent has a heavily Orthodox Jewish population and Jews in general, and the fact that he claimed that he was Jewish, that he had family who escaped the Holocaust, that’s just not something that I can tolerate.”
Santos has admitted to falsely claiming that his mother was Jewish and that his grandparents fled the Nazis. Santos also confessed that he had “never worked directly” for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and that he had never graduated from any college despite previously claiming to have received a degree from Baruch in 2010.
D’Esposito was joined by Langworthy, who also chairs the New York Republican Committee, LaLota, who represents Suffolk county and the first House Republican to call for an investigation on Santos, and Williams.
Despite growing calls for his resignation, Santos remained adamant that he would not step down.
“I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living,” tweeted Santos. “I will NOT resign!”
A growing number of House Republicans have joined in calling for Santos’ resignation including Reps. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Max Miller (R-Ohio), and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu has also joined the list of Republicans calling on Santos to “do the right thing and resign.”
“He’s got to resign. Of course, he’s got to resign,” said Sununu in an interview with CNN. “I mean, you just don’t know what’s gonna come next when you’ve lost public trust. You’ve lost your ability to do the job. They can’t kick him out, but he’s got to do the right thing and resign. But clearly, this is not an individual who has any sense of doing the right thing, so it’s a joke at this point.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition has previously stated that Santos is no longer welcome at its events. The newly elected congressman is also under investigation by Long Island prosecutors for lying about his past.
