George Santos Scandal Raises Doubts in U.S. Electoral System

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The United States Capitol Building (Photo/Wikimedia Commons)

Ted Myers, Print Staff Writer

 

George Santos, U.S. Representative for the state of New York’s 3rd Congressional District, is embroiled in controversy due to a series of lies about his life that he told during his campaign. 

Beginning in December 2022, details about Santos’s life were revealed to be embellished, or in some cases, completely fabricated. Santos stated that he was a graduate of Baruch College, a public college in New York state. Though he confessed this to be untrue, he remains adamant that this was simply small fluff added to his resume. He fabricated stories of being a successful financier for both Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, two well-known and respected investment banking companies, as well as his heritage, claiming to be a descendent of Ukrainian Holocaust survivors. To feed this lie, Santos had been involved with several events hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition when his identity was not proven to be accurate. 

So, Republican representative George Santos was elected with a seemingly completely falsified resume. This raises questions and concerns about the United States electoral system. As junior Harrison Leaver, a current student in AP United States Government and Politics, puts it, “How can we trust the people who are running our country?” History Department Chair Stefanie Santangelo believes that “the rules probably need to be rewritten by Congress to disallow members from taking their seats if they have been elected on a false resume.” While this is no complete solution, it could be a start to ensuring that those who run our country are truthful, or at least with their backgrounds. For now, we will simply have to wait and see how the House of Representatives, and the United States government as a whole, handles the scandal. As for now, no reforms have been proposed, but House Speaker McCarthy has announced that Santos will not be removed from office.