Former Rep. George Santos has asked for a second chance after his historic expulsion from Congress last month.
Mr. Santos, in an interview with Piers Morgan that aired this week, said he doesn’t have an answer for why he lied to the American people. He said he didn’t blame his childhood after he was asked if anything “triggered this.”
“I don’t have an answer for you. I really don’t,” Mr. Santos said, adding that he can’t explain why he lied about almost every detail of his life story during his 2022 campaign for Congress in New York.
“Don’t count me out,” the New York Republican said. “I’ve given many people a second chance and I’m asking everybody to please give me a second chance. And I will, you know, come forward and prove to be worth your second chance.”
He said, “We all make mistakes if you take a look deep inside and I’m sorry. I look forward to continuing to be a voice for those who seek leadership in me.”
When asked what his mother would have said to him about his actions, he called her a tough woman who would have “smacked me to hell.”
Mr. Morgan asked what she would’ve found unacceptable, and Mr. Santos said, “Everything.”
“The fact that I needed to open my mouth and say anything that wasn’t true, she would have just beat me to a crisp,” he said. “She would have pulled out a wooden stick. You don’t know that woman.”
He has been charged with 13 counts of misleading donors, receiving unemployment checks he did not deserve, and lying to Congress. Another 10 counts allege he inflated his campaign finance reports and made unauthorized charges to donor credit cards. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
A trial date is set for September 2024.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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