GOP Rep. George Santos apparently could lay claim to being the biggest queen on Capitol Hill, according to a new report that he dressed in drag more than a decade ago in Brazil and was known as Kitara.
MSNBC reported that Eula Rochard, a Brazilian drag queen, said he was friends with Mr. Santos when he lived in Rio, knew him by his drag name and that he was never known as George.
He provided a photograph of himself and Kitara Ravache from a 2008 drag show at Icarai Beach. He said Mr. Santos must have been 16 or 17 years old at the time.
Mr. Santos, 34, denied the report.
“The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or ‘performed’ as a drag Queen is categorically false,” Mr. Santos wrote on social media. “The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life while I am working to deliver results.”
He said, “I will not be distracted nor fazed by this.”
Mr. Santos is facing legal scrutiny and calls for him to resign, including from GOP officials, over a series of allegedly false statements and suspect actions he took before being elected to New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
News reports have indicated he has been known by various names over the years, going by Anthony Devolder and George Devolder.
Indeed, CBS News reported Thursday that a former roommate of Mr. Santos named Gregory Morey, who lived with him over a decade ago, said he “never went by George and never went by Santos.” He also said Mr. Santos wanted to get elected for the lucrative lifetime benefits.
“George Santos is whoever you want him to be, at whatever time you want him to be. It is just that simple,” Mr. Morey said. “He told me once that if I can get elected to Congress for just one term I will be set with a pension and health care for the rest of my life.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and GOP leaders tapped Mr. Santos this week to serve on the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
The latest report comes on the heels of allegations that Mr. Santos’ claim that his mother was in the Twin Towers on 9/11 was false, and that he took off with $3,000 he promised to raise on behalf of a pair of New Jersey veterans who needed it to pay for life-saving surgery for one of their dogs in 2016.
“The reports that I would let a dog die is shocking & insane,” Mr. Santos wrote in another social media post. “My work in animal advocacy was the labor of love & hard work.”
He added, “These distractions won’t stop me!”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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