In a heated incident that took place before Tuesday’s State of the Union address, Sen. Mitt Romney told disgraced Rep. George Santos that he didn’t “belong” in the House chamber.
As members of Congress crowded in for President Biden’s speech, Romney chastised the rookie congressman for choosing a prominent and very visible seat in the center of the aisle.
The Utah Republican told Santos, who has acknowledged to lying about aspects of his history and is the subject of many inquiries into his campaign financing, “You don’t belong here.”
Even though Romney claimed he didn’t hear everything, the two appeared to have exchanged some back and forth episode.
After the speech, Romney said to the New York congressman reporters, “He shouldn’t be in Congress, and they are going to go through the process and hopefully get him out.”
Santos responded to Romney on Twitter:
Santos, 34, occupied a position near to the aisle that Biden and other notable figures would take to enter the House chamber.
According to a legislator who spoke to the New York Post and asked anonymity to discuss the general displeasure openly, several other senators also objected to Santos’ choice of seat.
Later, Romney told reporters, “I didn’t imagine that he’d be standing there, attempting to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States.” The outlet continued to report.
Romney also stated that Santos “should be sitting the back row and being quiet, instead than parading in front of the president and everybody going into the room,” given the current investigations.
Watch:
The House Ethics Committee is looking into Santos after he acknowledged to making up information about his history, education, religion, and humanitarian activity.
Investigators from the federal, state, and county are also determining if he broke any campaign financing laws.
Santos donated his campaign more than $700,000, which he said came from the Devolder Organization, a company owned by his family.
The New York Times reported that he gave thousands of dollars to other campaigns over the last two years and disclosed a salary of $750,000 as well as more than $1 million in profits from the business. There is not much information accessible to the public about these inquiries.
Independent Writer. Marketing and communications strategist for politicians, artists, public figures & corporate brands for more than 10 years. Contact: @alejandrosbasso (Twitter)
Escritor independiente. Consultor en marketing y comunicaciones de políticos, artistas, figuras públicas y marcas por más de 10 años. Contacto: @alejandrosbasso (Twitter)