Insiders knew of George Santos' misleading statements before news broke: Report
'The Claman Countdown' anchor Liz Claman and The Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway join Howard Kurtz to discuss reports that insiders knew of George Santos' lies and calls for Santos to step down from office.
New York Rep. George Santos has gotten off to a rocky start since taking the reins for his congressional district, facing criticism over his notorious falsehoods about everything from his name to where (or if) he went to college to now taking hits on late night comedy shows – and clashing with a drag queen on Twitter.
"I have now been enshrined in late night TV history with all these impersonations, but they are all TERRIBLE so far," Santos, a Republican, tweeted Monday of Jon Lovitz's Jan. 20 impression from "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon."
"Jon Lovitz is supposed to be one of the greatest comedians of all time and that was embarrassing— for him not me! These comedians need to step their game up," he added.
Chaos ensued when drag queen Trixie Mattel responded to Santos by slamming him as "weak" source material in the thread.
Newly elected Republican Representative from New York George Santos attends the US House of Representatives voting for new speaker at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 4, 2023. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP)
Santos clapped back the "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars" winner with a GIF of Mattel from All Stars Season 3, captioning the post, "clearly you know all about bad acting skills @trixiemattel."
Mattel countered the insult by hitting back Santos' claim that he dressed in drag for "fun" at a party in Brazil despite swirling video-fueled rumors that he was instead a longtime performer.
"I am not an actor! I was young, and I had fun at a festival," Mattel said.
GEORGE SANTOS DENIES PERFORMING AS A DRAG QUEEN IN BRAZIL DESPITE PHOTO: ‘CATEGORICALLY FALSE'
American drag queen Trixie Mattel records an episode of "The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamo" onstage during Moontower Just For Laughs at the Paramount Theatre on April 13, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images)
The final exchange came from Santos: "It’s all good! I won my race against the fan favorite too."
Video from a Pride Parade in Niterói, Brazil allegedly showed Santos dressed in drag in a separate instance from the one he admitted to from 2008.
Reporter Marisa Kabas claimed another drag queen shared the video with her and claimed Santos was one of the people featured in the footage.
OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF NEW YORKERS WANT GEORGE SANTOS TO RESIGN: POLL
The jaded New York congressman came under fire soon before taking office for allegations he falsified his resume in multiple ways, including his work history, education and ancestry.
Santos admitted to lying after the accusations emerged.
Uproar following him through the halls of Congress sparked a push for him to resign shortly after the news broke – including one poll among New Yorkers finding that 59% of voters said Santos should leave office. Still, he refused to cave to their pressures.
Fox News' Brandon Gillespie, Aubrie Spady and Sophia Slacik contributed to this report.
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