WASHINGTON – Perhaps the real problem with George Santos is that he’s aiming too low.
As the newly elected congressman from New York faces calls from some in his own party to resign after revelations that he fabricated much of his life story in his campaign, a fellow New York Republican with seven years earlier he said he went through an even bigger crowd of lies. Voters nominated him for president.
Donald Trump lied about how much money he had, the size of his plane, the number of stories in his building, whether he was still in the mail-order steak business, even his height.
He was rewarded with the White House, where he set new records for lies, culminating in the “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from him, which in turn served as the basis for his 2020 coup attempt . January 6, 2021. remains in power.
So why the fixation on Santos’ lies now, versus the related pass Trump received?
“Triage,” explained former Republican consultant Mac Stipanovich, who left the party for Trump. “Amidst the ongoing scandals that have constituted Trump’s actions and commerce, from blatant and repetitive racism to acknowledgment of endemic sexual assault and misogyny to the denigration of legitimate heroes and attacks on their families, the biographical narrative has been small beer.” .
“In the case of Santos,” he added, “it’s the only beer on tap.”
It is true that Santos’ inventions are extraordinary for an elected politician. She lied about the colleges she attended, got knee replacements after playing competitive volleyball, worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs (and was wildly successful at both), lost four nightclub employees Pulse from Florida in 2016 and he was also Jewish.
However, he remains in the minor leagues in terms of lie after lie told by the last president of his party about his own life.
Trump lied about the size of his private jet, claiming it was larger than the 747 the president normally uses as Air Force One. He lied about dating model Carla Bruni and being stalked by Madonna.
He lied that the British royal family had expressed interest in buying apartments in Trump Tower in Manhattan. And he lied about how many floors that building contains, calling it a 68-story skyscraper, even though it only has 57 (floors 6 through 13 don’t exist, and neither do 27 through 29).
He lied about his identity, calling journalists with made-up names to spread fake news about Trump. He lied about his height, claiming for decades that he was 6ft 3in, despite photos of him next to 6ft 3 Jeb Bush and 6ft 2 Justin Trudeau showing him to be shorter, even wearing shoes with a 2 inches.
Then, when he entered politics in 2011 with hints that he would run for president in 2012, he became not only the best-known purveyor of the racist lie that Democrat Barack Obama was born abroad and therefore ineligible to be president, but also beautified himself lavishly. she, stating that she had sent a team of investigators to Hawaii and that they “couldn’t believe what they were finding.”
In fact, as Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen later admitted, no investigators were sent to Hawaii (Obama’s birthplace) or anywhere else. Trump had just made it up.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Eventually, even Republican rivals who had largely left Trump alone while attacking each other began to criticize Trump for his dishonesty.
“This man is a pathological liar; he doesn’t know the difference between the truth and a lie,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose father Trump accused him of complicity in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. “Whatever lie he tells, at that moment he believes it.”
Trump’s biggest lie, however, sustained his popularity among many voters: that he was a brilliant billionaire businessman worth, as his campaign claimed in a 2015 press release in all caps, TEN BILLION OF DOLLARS.
In reality, he only played a self-made billionaire on TV as the host of NBC’s “The Apprentice.” His fortune came from purchasing his father’s real estate business while he was still in his 20s, not, as he claimed, from a “small” loan from him that he later repaid.
His true net worth was a fraction of what he claimed. In fact, he admitted in a 2007 statement that his net worth fluctuated daily based on his condition rather than fair market valuations.
In fact, a 2015 National Journal analysis found that if Trump had invested his father’s money in an S&P 500 index fund 50 years ago, instead of actively managing the companies himself, he would have significantly richer.
Neither that story nor any of the others that questioned Trump’s origin myth, however, seemed to resonate with voters, especially Republicans, who generally continued to think Trump was a great man. Business.
“‘The Apprentice’ and his longstanding notoriety helped him a lot,” said George Conway, a lawyer who supported Trump’s candidacy in 2016 but soon came to see him as a danger to the country. “It created a preconceived image of him that stuck in the public’s mind.”
Sarah Longwell, a Republican pollster and consultant who also opposed Trump early on, said the aggressiveness to cover Santos’ lies versus focusing on Trump may simply be because Santos hasn’t been famous all along. .
“Perhaps the media are ashamed that they initially missed the Santos story. Or maybe because Santos is not a celebrity,” he said. ‘When you’re a celebrity, they let you do it’ was one of the truest things Trump ever said,” she added, referring to Trump’s claim on an Access Hollywood tape that women they allowed him to grab her genitals.
Another major factor, Stipanovich said, was the media’s vested interest in exploiting Trump for his entertainment value. Cable networks showed Trump’s empty stage before his appearances, and CBS chief Les Moonves even said, “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.”
Stipanovich said a similar motive appears to be at play with all the coverage of Santos, who, after all, is just a member of the House, not a presidential candidate. “It’s a useful tool for Democrats and the media to drive Republicans together, not to mention a seat in a House where the Republican majority is incredibly thin.”
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