George Santos: ‘Trump was right to end DEI schemes. I voted for that’

Read time: 4 mins

In brief…

• Former Republican congressman George Santos says the Jan 6 insurrection has been “over-sensationalised” and Trump is right to pardon people in jail for taking part.
• He says America cannot take Canada as its 51st state, due to its size and that Greenland should belong to its people.
• Despite being the first out gay Republican in Congress, he says he believes in – and voted for – ending diversity and inclusion schemes at government level.

What’s the story?

Expelled former Republican congressman George Santos is sick of talking about the January 6th insurrection.

The 2020 incident, which resulted in the deaths of five people and left 140 injured has, Santos tells The News Agents, been “over-sensationalised”.

He doesn’t even believe it was an “insurrection”.

“It was a bad riot, and it was very similar to the riots we had experienced all year long in New York with Black Lives Matters, following the unjust death of George Floyd,” he tells Emily Maitlis in Washington, both in town for Donald Trump’s second inauguration as the US president.

But despite claiming he was the first Republican senator to criticise the events that unfurled after Trump lost the 2020 election, he believes it is right to pardon some of those who have been behind bars for their part in the assault on the Capitol.

“If President Trump's going to extend pardons, I believe he should really do it to non-violent folks, people who are being prosecuted for just simply standing on the lawn, or somebody who walked in through Statuary Hall, moved the little ropes around, looked around, but committed no act of violence,” Santos says.

“I think those people don't need to be in jail.”

Who is George Santos?

Santos enjoyed a short, but eventful, 10 months as the representative for New York's 3rd congressional district in 2023, and is the first out gay Republican congressman.

His time in Congress came to an early end when it was uncovered that he had made up most of his education, employment history and professional experience – as well as not sharing details of former lawsuits made against him, as well as inconsistent claims about business dealings and his personal income.

After details of his past emerged, there were calls from both Republicans and Democrats for Santos to resign, and following a federal indictment which resulted in  a 311-114 vote against him, he was expelled.

Santos was better known to some as drag queen Kitara Ravache, which he denied while he was a serving congressman, but has since revived his alter-ego in personalised videos he sells to fans.

Trump, Greenaland and his billionaire "oligarchy" pals

While Santos is not keen to discuss his fabricated back-story (choosing to criticise Joe Biden's past instead when asked), he is more willing to discuss Trump's potential plans for Greenland and Canada.

"Canada will not become the 51st state, over my dead body and that of the entire Republican Party," he says, matter-of-factly.

"If you look at the electoral map, it would be a disaster for Republicans. It's like adding a new California to the map and we don't need that.

"Secondly, Greenland, we just need to have a great partnership. I want Greenlanders to be Greenlanders, and our great, strong allies and partners."

He also admits feeling that Trump let down his MAGA supporters by moving his inauguration inside a huge Washington venue, when thousands had descended upon Washington DC to celebrate an outdoor, public event.

"There was an opportunity to give the American people this because he did win the popular vote," he says.

"It was such an overwhelming victory for him, and a massive comeback, despite all the mountains he had to climb.

"I really wish he would have given people the show they came to town for."

He tells Emily he was informed the change was made due to security concerns, rather than the cold weather the last-minute change was blamed on.

Santos also adds that he was disappointed to see the event attended by "the oligarchy" – naming Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as examples – and wishes more regular "American Joes" were permitted inside to watch the inauguration.

"I appreciate these guys and what they do for the world. I just don't appreciate them having a privileged perch," he adds.

"They're American citizens, just like everyone else, and I want them to be treated as such. They're taxpayers like everyone else."

How will Trump's presidency be judged?

As other key Republican voices have said, Trump's second presidency will not be judged on how well he can court the favour of the big names in tech, but instead on whether he can deliver relief on the "crippling" inflation experienced by America's middle class.

Already, Trump has passed numerous executive orders since returning to power as president, but none of those orders are changes that will impact the finances of the American people.

Instead, they deal firmly with people immigrating to the US, ending financial support for all green initiatives, as well as ending protections for trans and non-binary people and diversity and inclusion initiatives in government.

But as a gay former Republican, this is something Santos wholeheartedly approves of.

"I voted for all of that," he says.

"I had the opportunity to vote on ending anything but meritocracy. I think meritocracy is the way to go."

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