GOP Rep. George Santos, who previously lied about his mother being at the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks, will invite a former firefighter who took part in the rescue operation on that day to be his guest at this Tuesday's State of the Union, The New York Times reports.
The guest, Michael Weinstock, is a Democrat who once ran for the New York district that Santos now represents. Weinstock says he is currently suffering from a neurological condition that is likely related to his time as a rescue worker at Ground Zero.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll be able to stay focused enough on the issue of 9/11 responders receiving the health care that they need without being sullied by George Santos,” Weinstock said.
Some see Santos' choice of Weinstock as slightly awkward due to the fact that the lawmaker has been accused of lying about his familial connection to 9/11. Santos has said that his mother, Fatima Devolder, was working as a financial executive at the World Trade Center that day.
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In a Twitter post from July 2021, he said that “9/11 claimed my mother’s life.” Santos’ campaign website currently says that his mother “survived the tragic events on September 11th, but she passed away a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer.”
As The Times points out, Santos' mother died in 2016. "On immigration documents reviewed by The New York Times, she told government officials in 2003 that she left the United States in 1999 and had not returned since. Mr. Santos’s friends and former roommates could not recall Ms. Devolder ever having worked in finance, and in immigration documents, she described herself as a housekeeper and home aide," The Times reports.
Santos has come under scrutiny for telling multiple lies about his past, and has even been accused of committing financial crimes.
Read the full report over at The New York Times.
