George Santos

Lying in American Politics

George Santos, the known liar who currently represents the 3rd congressional district in New York, has announced today that he will resign from several committees. Some will undoubtedly claim this is a step in the correct direction for the congress member; however, until he leaves, he should not be given any credit for stepping down from these committees. A more significant issue persists within the Republican Party. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy could have made it clear to anyone in the Republican conference that he wouldn’t tolerate such blatant lies. The most egregious, in my opinion, is the false claims about his Jewish heritage, including claiming that his family escaped the Holocaust.

When specific individuals decide to trade leadership for political expediency, we get elected representatives like Santos. McCarthy could have met with George Santos in private and told him that they would work together to draft his resignation from the House of Representatives; however, McCarthy chose political expediency over leadership.

Political expediency is nothing new for Republicans; we are all reminded of the lack of leadership regarding standing up to Mr. Trump, who inspired a violent coup against the United States of America. When politicians disregard leadership for expediency, we will get people like Santos representing decent, hard-working people. The lies lead to moral decay, a decay of the polity.