George Santos Yells About How “It’s All Theater”

This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a feature highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies just how extremely normal everything has become.

“It’s all theater.” —Rep. George Santos on Thursday, speaking on the steps of the U.S. Capitol at a press conference he called

In what could be the dwindling hours of George Santos’ tenure as a member of Congress, the Republican decided to make a little commotion on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and hold a press conference. Santos reaffirmed he would not be resigning ahead of a vote tomorrow about whether the House should expel him; in fact, he would be filing an expulsion resolution of his own against a fellow lawmaker.

Standing proud and defiant, Santos told a group of reporters Thursday morning that he would be introducing a privileged resolution to expel Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman because Bowman pulled a fire alarm in a Congressional office building back in September during government funding bill talks. (Bowman was charged with a misdemeanor and pleaded guilty, and will have to pay a fine and serve three months’ probation.) The House Ethics Committee voted not to investigate Bowman over the incident—it’s evenly split between Republicans and Democrats—which just doesn’t sit well with Santos.

“Now, had that been any other person, one of the members of the media, a Republican member of Congress, we all know that that person would have been charged with obstructing a Congressional hearing,” Santos said, without evidence.

He continued by likening Bowman’s fire alarm incident to the Jan. 6 rioters currently sitting in prison for their actions—“I think that that’s consistency,” Santos said.

And that was just one of many memorable soundbites of Santos’ last stand. He derided the House Ethics Committee report on his conduct—which unanimously concluded that Santos “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports,” used campaign funds for personal purposes, and violated the Ethics in Government Act—as “slanderous” and “littered in hyperbole, littered in opinion.” He added that no “decent cop” would bring such a report to a prosecutor, nor suggest to “go ahead and charge ’em.”

At one point, Santos launched into a disquisition about how, well, the world’s a stage. “The reality of it is it’s all theater. It’s theater for the cameras, it’s theater for the microphones, it’s theater for the American people at the expense of the American people, because no real work’s getting done,” Santos said, surrounded by a mob of reporters and cameras. Acting! It’s a good metaphor for a con man!

At another point, a reporter asked Santos if anything he was currently wearing was paid for by campaign funds, since that very same ethics report found that the New York congressman spent campaign dollars on Botox, OnlyFans, and Ferragamo designer sneakers. “No, nothing. Absolutely nothing. These are six years old,” Santos said, pointing to the shiny black loafers on his feet.