New York City Mayor Eric Adams pledged on Thursday to work with George Santos as long as the embattled Republican serves in Congress.
(Bloomberg) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams pledged on Thursday to work with George Santos as long as the embattled Republican serves in Congress.
“Until it’s determined he should no longer should serve, right now his name is Congressman,” the Democratic mayor said at an unrelated press briefing. “And we’re not leaving any stone unturned on who we should be sitting down with to make sure New Yorkers get the resources we need.”
Santos has come under fire for fabricating large swaths of his background, including his education, work history and religion, as he raised millions of dollars for his campaign to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional district, which encompasses Long Island and parts of Queens in New York City.
On Wednesday, New York Republicans including Representatives Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota, demanded Santos resign, while Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Cairo Jr. said Santos’s campaign was built on “deceit, lies and fabrications.”
Adams’s stance differs from that of Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who has instructed county offices to refuse to deal with Santos’s office and refer all constituent service issues to D’Esposito.
There have also been multiple complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission claiming Santos illegally hid the source of donations to his campaign and violated other provisions of campaign finance law.
Santos has said “he’s done nothing unethical” and that he doesn’t plan to resign.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who now oversees a GOP-led chamber with few Republican votes to spare, said on Wednesday that Santos deserves to remain in Congress and that it was “the voters who made that decision.”
When asked about whether Santos should resign on Thursday, Adams echoed McCarthy’s stance and said that he’d still sit down with Santos to help get federal resources into New York.
“He’s now elected to Congress and there’s a congressional body that will determine what his future is. I respect that body and decision,” Adams said. “Then, if he stays through the term, he has to go back in front of his voters and they will determine if he will stay in office or not.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.