George Santos, a man who once described himself as “Jewish,” now claims he can fully prove that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors
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Rep. says he is gathering evidence to confirm his Jewish heritage.
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Santos told CNN’s Manu Raju that this is “something I will prove before I die.”
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The embattled New York Republican has admitted lying about his education and work history.
Rep. George Santos doubles down on his claims Jewish descent. This time, the embattled New York Republican says he’s sure his grandparents fled the Holocaust – he just needs to gather the “final evidence.”
Santos told CNN’s Manu Raju in one interview which aired on Sunday, that he had hired genealogists to verify his Jewish origins.
“Is there any documentation of this?” asked Raju Santos.
“Oh, I spent the last 10 months putting this together, but unfortunately Ukraine is in the middle of a terrible war and my grandfather is from Ukraine,” Santos said, referring to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“So this is the biggest lift I have to do in my entire life. But I will prove it before I die,” Santos continued.
Santos continued to express his disbelief and frustration as to why people doubted his origins.
“I have always made that very clear. I am Catholic, come from a Jewish family, here is the story of my Jewish family. Why is this a problem?” Santos told Raju.
Santos emphasized his Jewish connections while seeking votes. But in December the news site The striker reported that Santos had claimed to be a “proud American Jew.” Memo sent to pro-Israel groups during his election campaign.
Santos later told the New York Post in December that he “never claimed to be Jewish” but instead said he was “Jewish” because his maternal family had a Jewish background.
During the CNN interview, Santos appeared to immediately backtrack from his earlier comments about evidence when Raju pressed him for solid documentation.
“I’m working on finishing the last parts of it, especially the part in Brazil where they go to Brazil and then have the documents falsified so they can blend in and all that,” Santos said.
CNN reported in December 2022 that Santos’ maternal grandparents were born in Brazil, citing information from multiple sources such as genealogy platforms My legacy And Geneanet.
However, Santos told Piers Morgan in February that his The grandparents’ birth certificates were forged and that they had fled to Brazil to escape the Holocaust.
“As soon as I have everything ready, I will allow the same company I hired to present the report to the press, with pleasure, because that will be the only thing I can say that I never intended to do to anyone to hurt.” Santos told Raju.
Santos has survived two expulsion orders from Congress this year. The scandal-plagued politician is seen as a liability to the Republican Party after admitting it Falsifying his education and professional history during the election campaign.
Santos, who won the election to the House of Representatives in November 2022, is also there facing federal charges of conspiracy, wire transfer, credit card fraud and identity theft.
Representatives for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
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