Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) called fellow New York Rep. George Santos (R) a “sociopath” on Wednesday, joining a growing list of voices calling on Santos to resign amid various probes into his résumé and campaign fundraising.
During an appearance on “CNN This Morning,” LaLota said he agreed with Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) Tuesday evening remarks about Santos, saying the embattled lawmaker doesn’t deserve to be a sitting politician in Congress.
Romney got into a brief verbal encounter with Santos moments before President Biden delivered his State of the Union address. After the speech, Romney told reporters of Santos, “He’s a sick puppy. He shouldn’t have been there.”
“Mitt Romney is right on this one. I’ve been clear on George Santos for months now. He does not deserve to be in Congress,” LaLota said Wednesday, adding that Santos had already broken the public’s trust. “He’s all about the rhetoric, he’s all about the drama, and he’s fallen far below the standard that we all should hold ourselves to.”
LaLota claimed Santos thrives off the attention he receives from the controversy surrounding him, noting how the ongoing distraction is delaying Republicans’ focus on central issues they campaigned on — including the economy, immigration and holding the Biden administration accountable.
“He’s a sociopath, George Santos. He looks for that attention. Even the negative attention drives him. It’s become an embarrassment and a distraction to the Republicans in the House,” LaLota said. “And every time I have to come to something like this and talk about George Santos, I can’t talk about what Republicans ought to be doing instead.”
Santos, who is facing investigations from federal authorities over potential campaign finance violations and an investigation from Nassau County over lies during his campaign, has also recently been accused of sexual harassment by a former aide, who sent a complaint letter to the House Ethics Committee last week.
The 34-year-old lawmaker has remained defiant despite lawmakers on both sides of the aisle calling for him to resign.