Life is often stranger than fiction. Just look at George Santos. There are so many allegations against the newly sworn-in GOP representative — some alarming, some bizarre, many a mix of both — that if he were a sketch comedy character, audiences would find him too far-fetched. He’s such a strange figure that last week, no less than three late night shows sent him up, with the help of special guests.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon went with Jon Lovitz. He appeared in person as a faux-guest, and he quickly started rattling off tall tales. He said he was in NYC to pick up his Nobel Peace Prize and “perform a couple nights at Madison Square Garden.” He then claimed to have written such beloved tunes as “Piano Man,” “Hey Jude,” and “Happy Birthday to You.” He also said that he doesn’t consider what he’s said as “lies” so much as — as per his grandfather, Winston Churchill — “embellishments.”
Meanwhile, over at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, it was What We Do in the Shadows’ Harry Guillén who dressed up in Santos’ signature sweaters to chat with remotely with the host. He also started fibbing right of the bat, claiming that it wasn’t his first time on the show; at least according to his IMDb page, he’d done the show five times. When asked about his false claims that he attended NYU and Baruch College, he produced as evidence a handmade shirt that read “Proud Alum of Baruch and/or NYU.”
As for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, they went with underrated Veep, New Girl, and Black-ish recurring actor Nelson Franklin, whose Santos is caught in his office painting his toenails. When Kimmel tried to chat with him remotely, he did what the real Santos does when confronted by any journalist wanting to interview him: He tried to flee. At one point he did answer one of Kimmel’s questions, claiming that he was “the first openly gay Jewish Republican Latino to walk on the moon.”
So which one did the better Santos? Don’t lie to us.
(Via Vulture)