Santos: Screw it. I’ll Run as an Independent

Disgraced former Republican Congressman George Santos refuses to go gently into that good night. After previously announcing that he would be running against a fellow Republican in New York’s First Congressional District, Santos has now switched his game plan yet again and claims he will run as an independent. His latest complaint echoes that of Marjorie Taylor Greene, accusing House Republicans of betraying the country by passing the spending bill that was approved on Friday. If Santos were an actual threat to draw away any votes, it could make the 1st District race more interesting. Republican Nick LaLota is defending his seat against former CNN anchor John Avlon. How Santos is finding the time (to say nothing of the money) to organize a political campaign remains something of a mystery. You might think that he should be focusing all of that energy on preparations for his upcoming criminal trials. (Associated Press)

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos of New York said Friday that he will leave the Republican Party and run as an independent in a bid to return to Congress after having been expelled while facing federal fraud charges.

In social media postings, Santos criticized Friday’s vote by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives to approve a $1.2 trillion package of spending bills.

“After today’s embarrassing showing in the house I have reflected and decided that I can no longer be part of the Republican Party,” Santos said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The Republican Party continues to lie and swindle its voter base. I in good conscience cannot affiliate myself with a party that stands for nothing and falls for everything.”

Here’s the “important announcement” from Santos on Twitter.

🚨Announcement🚨

After today’s embarrassing showing in the house I have reflected and decided that I can no longer be part of the Republican Party…

The Republican Party continues to lie and swindle its voter base. I in good conscience cannot affiliate myself with a party that…

— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) March 22, 2024

Suffolk County GOP chair Jesse Garcia quickly weighed in on the Santos announcement. He said there was “no appetite” among the voters for “the Santos clown car show to continue.” LaLota was no more charitable, inviting Santos to watch the November election results “from his prison cell.” (I don’t think inmates at Rikers Island are allowed to have televisions in their cells, but we won’t nitpick over that today.)

This may simply be another example of George Santos running his mouth to attract attention. I checked this morning at Ballotpedia and I don’t see where he has filed any of the required paperwork to get on the ballot. Did he actually find someone willing to go collect signatures for him at this point? The even bigger question is whether or not anyone could be convinced to sign a petition to put him on the ballot aside from some of his relatives. (And I wouldn’t bet the farm on them signing either.) 

You also can’t really mount a congressional campaign without some staffers working for you. If George Santos has any staff on the payroll, the public deserves to know where he’s getting the money to pay them. When we last checked in on Mr. Santos’ progress, I believe most of his assets had been seized or frozen. And let’s not forget that his trial is set to begin in September. He’s facing multiple serious felonies that could land him in prison for more than a decade. Any money he may have on hand should probably be going toward his legal defense.

I probably shouldn’t be investing any time in this, but George Santos remains something of a puzzle. Is it possible that he honestly believes he has a chance of returning to Congress? If he’s just doing all of this to draw attention to himself, perhaps that’s understandable. Some people just live for the limelight and that would probably be in keeping with Santos’ flamboyant personality. (He was a drag queen in South America for a time, after all.) But if he’s really serious about this, he might truly be suffering from some sort of delusional disorder. His family should check in on him, in my opinion.