Rep. George Santos, who claimed he was a Jew on the campaign trail, appeared to mock and imitate Jewish people, new audio shows
David Becker for the Washington Post/via Getty Images
- Rep. George Santos mocked Jewish people in his district, a new audio clip shows.
- He talked derisively about being stuck in a room with Jewish people and imitated a Yiddish accent.
- Santos notoriously lied about being Jewish while on the campaign trail.
Rep. George Santos, who has lied about being Jewish, mocked and imitated Jews from his Long Island, New York, district in a newly released audio clip.
The clip was recorded by filmmaker Blake Zeff, who spent months speaking with the congressman for a potential documentary, and shared on Twitter by MSNBC's Ari Melber.
"If you sit in a room with a lot of Jews, you're fucked," Santos said about his heavily Jewish 3rd Congressional District.
"It's funny when the -isms start coming out, right? 'Oh, he's such a mensch, he's such a mensch,'" said Santos, affecting a fake Yiddish accent, said Zeff. The filmmaker described it as a notable "Jewish" impression.
The congressman continued talking about the Jewish people he was elected to represent, saying, "Then they go on to the next thing. It's really bad, but anyway."
—Blake Zeff (@blakezeff) May 11, 2023
The embattled Republican congressman, who this week has been indicted on several charges, including wire fraud and money laundering, notoriously lied about being Jewish while on the campaign trail.
Santos, who is Catholic, later backpedaled and claimed that he used to describe himself as "Jew-ish" as a party joke.
Santos has faced numerous allegations of lying about his past and has admitted to fabricating parts of his resume, including his work history and education.
Along with the clip of him appearing to mock Jewish people, MSNBC shared multiple other audio clips from Santos' interview with Zeff.
In the clips, he denies any criminal conduct regarding questions surrounding his campaign finance reports and income discrepancies.
Zeff said that Santos told him: "I will go to the grave before anybody on this planet asks me to reveal information before the relevancy of my service in office. I don't have to. I'm protected as an American citizen."
"Not because I'm hiding anything, just because out of spite, I won't do it. Because it's my constitutional fucking right, and I'm going to hold onto it. People get to write whatever they want and call it freedom of the fucking press. I get to have my constitutional rights too!"
Zeff said on Twitter that the documentary was ultimately scrapped because Santos wanted a lot of money for his participation in the project.