If George Santos showed up to audition for the role of “Congressional Con Man #1,” he’d likely be directed to play it all with a bit more subtlety. Between the devious smirk he’s usually wearing and those beady eyes peering out from his oversized glasses, there’s something just a little too on-the-nose about everything Santos does. (To say nothing of every fib he tells.)
Despite the string of lies and controversy that trails the freshly sworn-in congressman everywhere he goes — and an official criminal investigation into those untruths — Kevin McCarthy has been appointing Santos to congressional committees where he’ll actually have a hand in lawmaking. And the Speaker of the House doesn’t care what you think.
On Tuesday — as seen in the video above, posted by Aaron Rupar — McCarthy was swarmed by reporters demanding answers as to why he would entrust the governing of our country to a seeming pathological liar. While he didn’t have a satisfactory reply, that didn’t stop McCarthy from getting testy while responding.
When a reporter asked McCarthy, point blank, whether the reason he was standing behind Santos is because the alternative would cost Republicans a seat in congress, the SOTH laughed at the question — as if such a trivial matter would even play into his decision.
Instead, McCarthy said that the reason he’s continuing to support Santos is “because his constituents voted for him.” (Or, at least, the version of Santos they thought they were getting.) While he said that if the Ethics Committee decided that Santos did something wrong, he would stand behind that decision, he must have forgotten that he disemboweled the Ethics Committee as one of his first orders of business (a move that Santos himself described as “fantastic“).
Then, like any good Republican, McCarthy attempted to change the narrative by stating that if he were to go along with the idea that anyone who lies shouldn’t be allowed to hold office, then “Joe Biden couldn’t be president right now,” he said.
When pressed further (right around the 2:00 mark) and told by a reporter that he was not answering her question, McCarthy snapped back and got testy—under the guise of being… respectful?:
“Let me be very clear and respectful to you. You asked me a question. When I answer it, it’s the answer to your question. You don’t get to determine whether I answer your question or not, ok? In all respect. Thank you.”
How did it take a full 15 rounds of voting to get this respectful gem of a GOP leader elected?
(Via Aaron Rupar)