Disgraced former congressman George Santos tore into the Republican Party on Tuesday night after a Democrat won his old House seat in a special election triggered by Santos’ historic expulsion from Congress.
New York’s 3rd district flipped from red to blue as Tom Suozzi—a Democrat who previously represented the Queens and Long Island district before an unsuccessful 2022 gubernatorial bid—clinched the seat vacated by Santos’ expulsion in the wake of an indictment on fraud charges. In public and in private, Santos wasted no time in savaging his former colleagues over the defeat, which now makes the GOP’s razor-thin House majority even narrower.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Santos told the New York GOP in a text message: “I hope you guys are happy with this dismal performance and the 10 million dollars your futile Bull Shit cost the party.” “I look very much forward to seeing most of you lose due to your absolute hate filled campaign to remove me from Congress arbitrarily,” he added. “Now go tell the Republicans Base [sic] what you fucking idiots did and good luck raising money next quarter.”
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The House voted to expel Santos in December after a withering Ethics Committee report alleged that he’d blown donors’ cash on personal luxuries including Botox treatments and OnlyFans subscriptions. The report followed a slew of criminal charges related to fraud, identity theft, and making false statements about his finances. His brief time in office had also been overshadowed by countless media reports covering the increasingly baroque list of lies he’d told about his life story and professional history.
As his old seat flipped blue, Santos was apparently not going to miss the opportunity to score some points from the fact that his expulsion—which was backed by 105 GOP lawmakers—had now cost the Republican Party dearly.
“To my former colleagues in the house GOP please make these idiots pay you guys $10million back,” Santos wrote on X, tagging several former New York colleagues who pushed for his downfall. “These RINO’s are the most effective democrats operatives in the nation!”
He also called for Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph G. Cairo Jr.—who backed Mazi Pilip’s candidacy and reportedly served as her chief strategist—to resign. Santos said he had won the district without any “Establishment money,” whereas: “Tonight the establishment set $10 million on fire!”
“I FLIPPED a 23 year Blue seat with the help of grassroots activists and by activating the base with retail politics,” he fumed. Hey @NassauNYGOP money does not buy votes, it’s respecting the wishes of the base that wins votes. #NY3 is #MAGA country and since MAGA was disrespected, MAGA stayed home!”
His sentiments were echoed by Donald Trump, who slammed Pilip as a “very foolish woman” and attributed her defeat to her failure to endorse his 2024 presidential campaign. “[S]he would have easily WON if she understood anything about MODERN DAY politics in America,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“MAGA, WHICH IS MOST OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, STAYED HOME - AND IT ALWAYS WILL, UNLESS IT IS TREATED WITH THE RESPECT THAT IT DESERVES,” he continued. The former president went on to say “I WANT TO BE LOVED” and demanded that the GOP put forward a “REAL” candidate to run against Suozzi in November.
