Former GOP Congressman George Santos sat down for an interview with comedian Ziwe Fumudoh following his expulsion from Capitol Hill.
Ziwe is known for her satirical and uncomfortable interviews that often go viral. She has interviewed Chet Hanks, Andrew Yang, Adam Pally and Emily Ratajkowski.
After his expulsion from the U.S. House this month, Santos received an invitation by Ziwe via Twitter for an interview, to which he responded, “Let’s do it.”
His actions echo the everyday evils that take place in Congress but are amplified to such a degree that they register as spectacle.
Here are five things that occurred during the interview:
1. Expelled GOP congressman asked to be paid for the interview three times
Before the interview began, Santos pulled Ziwe aside and asked her to be “mindful of the DOJ stuff,” to which she responds, “What do you mean by ‘mindful?’”
The former New York Republican was expelled Dec. 1 after a House Ethics Committee report which found that Santos had fabricated his biography, defrauded donors and spent campaign money on botox, subscriptions to OnlyFans, lavish goods and personal travel.
Television can turn the most malignant — or ridiculous — figure into a powerful force in American life. (Just ask Trump.) Let’s not make George Santos a star.
Santos was indicted by the Justice Department in May and then charged again in October in a superseding indictment.
Prior to the interview, a black screen appears with the forewarning, “No Congressmen were paid in the making of this interview ... Even though George Santos asked ... three times.”
2. Santos walks back Rosa Parks comparison
“Rosa Parks, believe it or not, is one of my favorite political figures,” Santos tells Ziwe when asked about his comments regarding the civil rights hero.
The New York Republican is entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. But different standards apply to the privilege of holding public office.
In July, Santos went on the right-wing podcast “Mike Crispi Unafraid” and re-told a story about Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) telling Santos to go to the back of the room during the State of the Union address.
“Guess what? Rosa Parks didn’t sit in the back, and neither am I gonna sit in the back,” Santos said in the podcast interview.
Santos said he had a portrait of Parks in his office. “I think that speaks for itself,” he said before admitting to Ziwe that he could never measure up to Parks and that he used her story only as an analogy.
3. “They’re all frauds”: Santos accuses all the members of Congress of being fraudulent
“If you were to put them under the same scrutiny that I was under, you’d f—ing vacate the whole goddamn building,” Santos said when Ziwe asked, “Who else is committing crimes?”
Talk show rebel Ziwe Fumudoh discusses her new essay collection ‘Black Friend,’ her immigrant parents, her plans for the future and what it’s like to be feared.
Santos refuted that former GOP colleagues Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida are frauds, but agreed that former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are, alongside Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman of New York.
Ziwe also asked about New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who was indicted on bribery charges this year.
“Absolu—’gold bar’ Menendez?” Santos says, alluding to $100,000 in gold bars found in Menendez’s home by federal agents in June 2022.
While the evidence against Senator Bob Menendez seems damning, are charges of corruption even allowed to be filed during Hispanic Heritage Month?
4. Santos refutes past claims tying him to historic tragedies
“I did not say my mom died in 9/11,” Santos said after Ziwe accused him of connecting himself to historic tragedies including the Pulse Nightclub shooting, 9/11 and the Holocaust.
In July 2021, Santos responded to a Twitter user, “9/11 claimed my mothers life… so I’m blocking so I don’t ever have to read this again.”
In December 2021, Santos wrote in a tweet, “December 23rd this year marks 5 years I lost my best friend and mentor. Mom you will live forever in my heart.”
On his campaign website, Santos also wrote that his mother was in the south tower of the World Trade Center but survived the attacks and died “a few years later” after losing her battle with cancer. Her immigration documents proved she was not in the country at that time of the attacks.
Known for her frank, funny conversations about sensitive issues, especially race, Ziwe prepares for her next act: shaking up hidebound, male-dominated late-night TV.
Santos also came under scrutiny for claiming that his grandparents surviving the Holocaust and that he was a “proud American Jew” during his campaign. He later backtracked that he was not Jewish but rather “Jew-ish.”
When Ziwe asks if it’s appropriate for politicians to use terror for their own professional gain, Santos responded, “That’s what politicians do.”
5. Santos is not going anywhere
“What can we do to get you to go away?” Ziwe asked Santos.
The George Santos indictment accuses the lawmaker of making car payments and buying luxury clothing with campaign funds.
“Stop inviting me to your gigs,” Santos responded.
Amid Santos’ story, there has been commentary about his looming presence in mainstream media. Times reporter Josh Rottenberg writes that while Santos’ politics are “repugnant” to most people in Hollywood, “his cartoonish persona makes him an undeniably appealing target for satire.”
“The lesson is to stop inviting you to places,” Ziwe said to Santos, after he expressed a desire to appear on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
“But you can’t,” Santos told Ziwe. “Because people want the content.”
