US Congressman-elect George Santos admitted in an interview Monday with The New York Post to lying about a number of claims he made about his past, including being Jewish.
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"I never claimed to be Jewish," Santos said in an interview. "I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was 'Jew-ish.'"
While previously claiming to be the grandson of Holocaust survivors, including telling i24NEWS he was a Jew with Brazilian and Angolan roots, reports exposed that his grandparents did not flee Europe, but rather came from Brazil.
The incoming Republican representative also claimed to have studied at Baruch College in New York City, but the school said it had no records of his enrollment. He admitted to this lie in the interview. "I'm embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume," he said. "I own up to that … We do stupid things in life."
Santos also "never worked directly" for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, both of which denied previous claims he was employed by them.
Other claims he came clean about included owning more than a dozen properties, while he admits he owns none.
"I am not a criminal," Santos said. This controversy "will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good."
Santos was one of three important house flips in November midterm elections for the Republican Party in New York.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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