Rep. George Santos (R-NY), the habitual liar who fabricated large swathes of his work history and personal background before being elected to Congress, claimed last month during a podcast interview that he had been the target of an assassination attempt, that he was mugged in a brazen daytime robbery while walking down Fifth Avenue in New York City, and that his Florida home was vandalized because of his political affiliation.
The wild allegations were uncovered Monday by Rachel Maddow, who on her show played video of an interview the congressman conducted with Brazilian podcast Rádio Novelo Apresenta.
In the translated clip from Dec. 7, Santos claimed that the alleged vandalism occurred while he and his husband were at a New Year’s Eve Party to ring in 2021.
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“It was vandalized because we were at a Republican Party in Florida in December 2020. So that’s it. I’ve experienced vandalism,” Santos claimed before shifting gears. “We have already suffered an attempt on my life, an assassination attempt, a threatening letter, having to have the police — a police escort standing in front of our house.”
Santos didn’t bother going into detail about the alleged assassination attempt, something Maddow noted during the segment. The MSNBC anchor reached out to his office for comment but didn’t receive a response, she added.
Santos did, however, more fully describe what he claimed happened on Fifth Avenue in the summer of 2021.
“I was mugged by two men. Before asking any questions, they weren’t Black, they were even white, but they robbed me, took my briefcase, took my shoes and my watch. And that was in broad daylight. It was 3 p.m. I was leaving my office, going to the garage, getting my car, and I was mugged,” he claimed, adding later: “The fear is real. It’s surreal what we live through here.”
The podcast hosts asked Santos for a police report to substantiate his claims, but haven’t heard back, Maddow said, adding that she did the same. She’s also filed a records request with the NYPD—but hasn’t yet received a response.
