NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Embattled Rep. George Santos continued to defend himself in an interview with Piers Morgan on British television, but he admitted he’s “been a terrible liar.”
Santos appeared on Britain’s TalkTV channel for an hour-long interview of “Piers Morgan Uncensored” that was broadcast Monday.
The 34-year-old congressman, who represents parts of Nassau County and Queens, admitted to lying about some parts of his life, including his college education.
Santos said his lie about attending Baruch College was “one of my biggest regrets in life” but that he did it due to the “expectation on society,” given he couldn’t afford college.
“Well, I’ve been a terrible liar on those subjects,” Santos told Morgan. “And what I tried to convey to the American people is I made mistakes of allowing the pressures of what I thought needed to be done.”
The Republican rep said while it was “stupid” to lie he didn’t do it to mislead the voters but to ingratiate himself with the local “political apparatus.”
“This wasn’t about tricking anybody,” Santos said.
“Yes, it was!” Morgan interjected.
“No, no, no, no, let me finish,” Santos said.
“The whole thing was about tricking people,” Morgan said.
“It wasn’t about tricking the people,” Santos insisted. “This was about getting accepted by the party.”
Santos said he didn’t think people would discover his lies since, “I ran in 2020 for the same exact seat for Congress, and I got away with it then.”
Santos continued to stand by some of the more controversial falsehoods he reportedly told, including that his mother escaped the South Tower on 9/11, even though there are no records of her working there or being in the U.S. at the time. She died in 2016.
“Could you have just got this wrong?” Morgan asked.
“Are you telling me that I got wrong what my mother told me?” Santos responded.
“I don’t know, is it possible she misled you?” Morgan pressed.
“I don’t believe so,” Santos said. “She wasn’t one to mislead me.”
He also said the pet charity from which he’s accused of stealing thousands of dollars was real and that he never pocketed a dime.
And he insisted again that he never claimed to be Jewish, just “Jew-ish,” describing it as a “party favorite joke.”
Asked if he would have run for office knowing the firestorm he’d eventually face, Santos was blunt: “Absolutely not.”
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