By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Watch George Santos Give Bizarre CNN Interview About Impeachment, Lies
Watch George Santos Give Bizarre CNN Interview About Impeachment, Lies
The congressman who has been known to lie insisted that he wasn’t deflecting the questions being asked, but that’s exactly what he was doing.
In a bizarre interview on CNN Tuesday evening, gay New York Republican Rep. George Santos appeared to do what he has become known for, as he insisted to Erin Burnett that he wasn’t deflecting her questions as he continually deflected them while accusing the television network of being soft on Democrats.
The veteran anchor, who kept her composure throughout, invited the serial fabulist onto her show Tuesday evening to discuss, among other things, the many lies he has told in the press, many of which he has admitted.
Santos’s communications staff had reached out to journalists on Tuesday morning to push for an interview with the congressman after Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced that he had directed the body to proceed with an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden despite the skepticism of some in the GOP conference.
“Checking into if you are interested in hearing from the Congressman,” wrote Santos’s communications director Gabrielle Lipsky Tuesday morning under the subject line “Santos - Biden Impeachment Inquiry.”
Santos’s office did not respond to The Advocate’s request for an interview.
The conversation on CNN began with Burnett asking Santos why he supported an impeachment inquiry when he admitted there was insufficient evidence to impeach Biden.
“We don’t have sufficient proof to impeach him, but we have sufficient evidence and sufficient leads to go do an inquiry, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Santos explained.
Burnett then inquired about the congressman’s political future as the House Ethics Committee considers his tenure in the body.
“Would you resign if the committee concludes that you committed wrongdoing?” Burnett asked.
“Look, I think that the committee should be very wary about making any hasty decision,” Santos said. “So my answer to your question [is] no.”
Burnett asked Santos to address the 13 federal criminal charges against him. Recently, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to delay a status conference to allow the parties to find “paths forward,” leading to speculation that Santos was negotiating with prosecutors.
“Are you negotiating a deal with the feds?” she asked.
“There is no talks of negotiation, and the reality is for me to even get into the weeds of it would cheapen my ability to defend myself,” Santos responded. “But I can say one thing to you: Why don’t you go ask the DOJ what they meant by the letter? The letter was submitted by them, not by my counsel.”
Santos also challenged Burnett to “go grill Joe Biden” because he “has a treasure trove starting with his son, Hunter Biden, cocaine in the White House, laptops from hell, all these things, and none of this is spoken about on your network.”
As Burnett moved on, she asked Santos to respond to the plethora of lies he's told, many of them recorded, which she replayed for him.
“My grandparents survived the Holocaust,” Santos said in one clip. “My mom was a 9/11 survivor,” he said in another. “I actually went to school on a volleyball scholarship when I was in Baruch. I put myself through college and got an MBA from NYU.”
Burnett asked, “Can you explain to anybody watching why you said some of the things that you’ve said, which you yourself have admitted are not true?”
Frustrated, Santos lashed out.
“Erin, you know what would be great? And I’m not deflecting, but I’m just going to call you out here and CNN,” he started. “Have you bought Joe Biden on the network and spoken about all the things he said across the last 46 years? Because I haven’t seen it.”
Burnett responded, “This interview is between you and me, and it’s about you.”
Santos began stumbling over his words as he attempted to come up with a retort.
“Well, I understand, but we started off on impeachment. That was a preface of this interview,” Santos complained. “Are you bringing Joe Biden on?”
Burnett addressed Santos’s claim directly before ending the interview.
“It’s completely irrelevant to the conversation,” she said. “And to be very clear, you and I spoke this afternoon, and I said we would begin with impeachment and talk about many other things about you. You were well aware of that. So it would be unfair to claim anything otherwise.”
