John Fetterman defends giving money to George Santos on Cameo: 'Get over it'

• Sen. John Fetterman paid George Santos $343 for a Cameo video trolling Sen. Bob Menendez.
• He's not the only Democrat giving Santos money for Camero, and some say it's wrong.
• But Fetterman isn't sweating the criticism. "They really gotta get over it," he said.

Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania doesn't care if you think it was wrong of him to give money to an alleged fraudster.

"I think it was a really great investment to troll the biggest sleazeball in the Senate," Fetterman told Business Insider on Tuesday. "I think there's other things you could be protesting."

On Monday, Fetterman paid $343.20 in campaign funds to former Republican Rep. George Santos of New York — who was expelled from the House by an overwhelming vote on Friday — for a 21-second video trolling Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

Santos set up an account on Cameo, a website that allows users to purchase personalized videos from celebrities, on Monday.

A Fetterman spokesman told Business Insider that their Cameo request to Santos was fulfilled in just 16 minutes and that they "did not expect to get it back so fast."

In the Cameo video, Santos urges "Bobby from New Jersey" to "stand your ground" and not "get bogged down by all the haters out there." Menendez is facing criminal charges related to accepting bribes in the form of gold bars and acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government.

But online commentators — and Menendez himself — pointed out that Fetterman's troll was simply lining Santos's pockets.

"I don't think Mr. Clickbait's donors would appreciate him enriching George Santos," Menendez told NBC News. "I'm surprised he didn't ask his parents for the money."

Others pointed out that donors to Fetterman's campaign may take issue with their money going to Santos, who is not only an alleged fraudster but holds relatively conservative views on a range of issues.

But Fetterman was dismissive when asked about those criticisms on Tuesday.

"Bob Menendez? Oh no, he's critical too?" Fetterman asked mockingly. "Progressives? Oh, no, really? Somehow we'll be okay with it, despite that."

"They really gotta get over it," Fetterman added.

The Pennsylvania senator isn't the only Democrat who's forked money over to Santos since he fired up a Cameo account on Monday.

The Ohio Democratic Party also purchased a video of Santos in which he thanks Bernie Moreno, a Republican Senate candidate, for contributing to his campaign.