Congressman-elect George Santos, a Republican from New York who reportedly lied about his Jewish heritage and has admitted he fabricated key details of his resume, said in an interview Monday evening that he never claimed to be Jewish. “I said I was ‘Jew-ish,’” Santos told The New York Post.
However, in a position paper shared with Jewish and pro-Israel leaders during the campaign and obtained by the Forward, Santos called himself “a proud American Jew.”
In the two-page document that the Santos campaign shared earlier this year with pro-Israel groups, Santos also claimed to “have been to Israel numerous times from educational, business, and leisurely trips.” A brief search of his social media accounts found no images or documentation of his alleged trips to Israel.
In a position paper, George Santos referred to himself as a ‘proud American Jew.’ Photo by Forward
According to genealogy websites reviewed by the Forward and reported last week, Santos falsely claimed to have Jewish grandparents who fled anti-Jewish persecution in Ukraine and then Belgium during World War II. The website MyHeritage.com lists Santos’ maternal grandparents as having both been born in Brazil before the Nazis rose to power. Santos’ mother, Fatima Aziza Caruso Horta Devolder, who died in 2016, regularly shared posts with Catholic themes and images of Jesus on her Facebook page.
In several interviews published Monday, Santos admitted he forged his professional biography and lied about his education and work experience. But the Long Island politician offered contradictory statements about his claimed Jewish heritage. In an interview with The New York Post, Santos said that he “never claimed to be Jewish” and that because his maternal family had a Jewish background, he said he was ‘Jew-ish.’ In a Zoom interview with City & State, a New York-based media website, Santos repeated that he always jokes he is “also Jew-ish – as in ‘ish.’” Later in the interview, Santos complained that “people are rushing to disinherit me from being Jewish or even allowing to care for Israel and Judaism in a time and era where antisemitism is at an all-time rise.”
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In a radio interview co-hosted by former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who resigned in 2011 after lying about a sexting scandal, Santos questioned the reporting that showed his grandparents had been born in Brazil. “I want to know where they’re getting these reports from,” he said. “Because all I see is a picture of somebody who they’re alleging is either my great grandfather or my great, great grandfather.” Asked directly whether they were born in Latin America, Santos said that “to the best of my knowledge, to the best of my understanding, no they were not.”
Santos, who spoke at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s conference in Las Vegas shortly after winning his election in November, was also a featured guest at the group’s menorah-lighting party on the first night of Hanukkah.
May this Festival of Lights bring peace, good health, and prosperity to all.
Wishing you a Happy Hanukkah from Sands Point, NY — w/ Rep. @leezeldin, @NassauExec Bruce Blakeman, Mayor Peter Forman, & NY @RJC members. pic.twitter.com/eWUdKr4Dmr
— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) December 19, 2022
Matt Brooks, the RJC’s chief executive, said in a statement Tuesday that the group is “very disappointed” in Santos for deceiving them about his heritage. “In public comments and to us personally he previously claimed to be Jewish. He has begun his tenure in Congress on a very wrong note,” Brooks said, adding that Santos won’t be welcome at any future RJC events.
The Santos campaign didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
George Santos position paper by Jacob Kornbluh
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