Around 150 protesters gathered outside what is supposed to be Rep. George Santos’s (R-NY) in-district office Saturday to urge the truth-challenged lawmaker to resign.
The event took place in Douglaston, Queens, outside the shuttered campaign office of former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), who opted not to run for re-election in order to primary New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. Santos was elected to replace Suozzi in November, prior to being exposed for lying about major parts of his background, and lists the Douglaston address where Saturday’s rally took place as his district office location on his official House website.
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Despite being elected two months ago, Santos has yet to strip Suozzi’s name from the windows or awning outside the office he took over. There were no visible signs that the embattled lawmaker or anyone on his team had even moved into the space as of Saturday afternoon.
“His office is not set up,” protester Tanbir Chowdhury told CBS2. “You wouldn’t know that this is your current Congress member’s office right now.”
“We are only focused on removing George Santos and making sure we get a special election,” protester Jody Kass told the local station.
“I think it’s really in the best interest of the Republicans to force him to resign,” rally attendee Tom Kearney, a 53-year-old paralegal and district resident, told the New York Post. “It might be embarrassing in the short term but in two years they will have a candidate.”
Saturday was the second protest outside Santos’s office this week, with about a dozen or so Democrats gathering to call for his resignation on Thursday.
Santos, whose district includes parts of Queens and Long Island, has largely kept a low profile since last month’s New York Times report revealed that he had lied during the campaign about his family, religion, education, work experience, sexuality, and perhaps even an animal rescue charity he allegedly founded. On top of bipartisan condemnation for his string of lies, Santos also faces multiple investigations, including one into discrepancies on financial disclosure forms.
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The GOP lawmaker was largely seen alone as members socialized on the House floor during the arduous 15 rounds of voting to elect a speaker, caused by sustained conservative opposition to now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) bid. Videos circulated on social media of reporters asking the lonely lawmaker about the controversies swirling around him, but he dodged those questions and would only reiterate his support for McCarthy’s speakership bid.
Reached for comment by CBS2, a member of Santos’s team said, “I do not know where the congressman is.”
