Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), the Republican Party’s failed 2012 presidential candidate, confirmed that he told embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY), “You don’t belong here” ahead of the State of The Union on Tuesday night.
The exchange, which another lawmaker witnessed, reportedly occurred in the House chamber. Following the State of the Union, Romney doubled down on his remarks publicly to reporters in a video posted by CBS News reporter Alan He.
MITT on Santos: “He shouldn’t be in Congress. And they’re gonna go through the process and hopefully get him out. But he shouldn’t be there and if he had any shame at all, he wouldn’t be there.” pic.twitter.com/9cAQ2dsO1V
— Alan He (@alanhe) February 8, 2023
Sen. Mitt Romney told Rep. George Santos that he does not belong in Congress, a lawmaker close to the interaction in the House chamber tells @NBCNews. https://t.co/Y2Pkqocb2m pic.twitter.com/fFqNyRvMq7
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 8, 2023
“I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every Senator and the president of the United States,” said Romney, adding:
Given the fact that he’s under an Ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and remaining quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room. Look, look, look, he says he, you know that he embellished his record. Look, embellishing is saying you got an A when you got an A-, lying is saying you graduated from a college you didn’t even attend. And he shouldn’t be in Congress and they’re going to go through the process and hopefully get him out and if he had any shame at all he wouldn’t be there.
Santos responded to Romney via Twitter, “just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!”
Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT! https://t.co/ANxiQPxAua
— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) February 8, 2023
As Breitbart News reported, Santos, who represents Long Island, is “facing multiple investigations by prosecutors into his personal and campaign finances and lies, which he admitted to, about his resume and family background.”
He has faced intense scrutiny from fellow lawmakers, including calls to resign from his seat from members of both parties. The freshman stepped down from his two low-profile committee assignments on January 31.
