Piers Morgan Uncensored - Piers Morgan Uncensored: George Santos Returns

Episode Date: January 10, 2024

On Piers Morgan Uncensored: From Los Angeles, George Santos returns to Uncensored. Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8pm on TalkTV on Sky 522, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on ...DAB+ and the app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Tonight on Pierce Morgan Uncensored from here in Los Angeles, I sit down again with George Santos, the disgraced U.S. congressman, who, less than a year ago, admitted to me he was a terrible liar. Did you all think people would find this out? I've been a terrible liar. Those lies came back to haunt him. The expulsion of the gentleman from New York, Mr. Santos. He's now been thrown out of Congress, one of only six people in history in the United States, and he's facing 23 criminal charges.
Starting point is 00:00:26 I'm not saying I'm an innocent little flower. Nobody's an innocent little flower. Will he go to prison? It's a long barrel to be looking down. Is he sorry? And I'm asking everybody to please give me a second chance. What happened to George Santos? I just don't get the constant lying for no reason.
Starting point is 00:00:54 George, so it's been nearly a year incredibly since we did that now infamous interview in New York. A lot has happened to you in that time. I was struck by a tweet as he flew into Los Angeles to do this interview. where you said, just landed at LAX, and as I'm de-plaining, I had a gentleman come up to me and thank me for my service in Congress. Now, because it's George Santos, I have to ask you first, did that happen? Yes, it did. Do you think you deserve to have that kind of response from the public?
Starting point is 00:01:30 You know, I invite all of folks in the media up here to come back home with me and ask the people yourselves. Don't believe me. You don't need to believe me. I've been discredited for an entire year in the media. It doesn't matter how much I've admitted to where my shortcomings were and where I did commit. I was less than truthful, right? Well, last time you admitted you were a terrible lie.
Starting point is 00:01:53 My point. So the reality is, I invite folks to come into my hometown and take a look for yourself. I am not in the same predicament that the media has propelled for the last year. This is a very common response I've received. there's a sense of outrage back home after the expulsion. Really? Yeah, there was. Why?
Starting point is 00:02:15 I'm conservative peers. People voted for a conservative person for that district after 26 years of Democrats. And I went in there and I was conservative through and through. The most conservative member from the New York delegation. But nobody voted for the George Santos that you actually are. That's not true. They voted for the fake version you told. That's not true.
Starting point is 00:02:33 They voted for the principles, the agenda, the political positions that I performed. And that I... Did you not think any of the lies matter? No, nobody voted for me based on my resume. And I've seen that actually trend on Twitter for quite some time. People saying, I didn't vote for his resume. I voted for his policies.
Starting point is 00:02:50 And guess what? He delivered on each and every one of them. I never broke a single campaign promise. A single one, Pierce. Do you know how many politicians can say that? Very few. What did you actually achieve, though? You know what?
Starting point is 00:03:01 It's very hard to achieve anything when nobody is allowing... Give me your main achievement as a congressman. My votes, I maintain... No, but what did you actually achieve? Well, like I say. I was- I mean, this guy's thanking you for your service
Starting point is 00:03:11 in Congress. What did you actually achieve? Thank you for me. That's a question for him, right? He was sitting next to me. What are you thinking you achieved? What do you think you achieved? I think I achieved standing my conservative ground.
Starting point is 00:03:20 I never buckled. I never bend it over to the establishment or to the liberal mob in Congress. I've always kept my conservative ballot. It wasn't a liberal mob that got rid of you. No, it was a liberal mob. Yes, it was. Actually, it was a lot of Republicans.
Starting point is 00:03:32 Sure, but not a majority of them. A minority of Republicans along with every single Democrat almost. And you were the first Republican, Congress person ever to be thrown out? Yes, that's true. Ever. That's true. They've only ever been six Congress people thrown out.
Starting point is 00:03:46 I'm the six, right? Three were in the Civil War, right? Who were confederates? Two were indicted. And two had criminal convictions. Yeah, I didn't have any of that. And then, well, not yet. Well, unless you can tell the future.
Starting point is 00:03:58 Well, no, but you're facing 23 federal charges. That's fine. And I'm fighting them. And I'm fighting them seriously. But they're serious. They're serious, yeah. So, I mean, since I saw you last in less than a year, Everything that you were then has gone up in smoke, you accept that?
Starting point is 00:04:12 A lot has gone up in smoke, but I'm still here, right? I'm still relevant. People still want to talk to me. They still want to hear what I have to say. Do they? No, they do. You would be having this interview if they did it. Well, I think you're a fascinating person, but mainly because of what's happened to you in the last year, confirming people's belief that in many ways you were one of the worst people to ever be in Congress. So do you understand why people think that? I disagree. I didn't sell out my country.
Starting point is 00:04:42 I didn't take a single vote that would put a man or a woman in the front line of a war. I didn't vote for anything that would further a globalist agenda. I love my voting record, and I stand by it. I actually think I have one of the very few voting records that somebody can actually put their head in bed and sleep at night without worrying about how far down the river they stole the American people peers. You know, when you look at some of those records over the there, people who voted to put us into endless wars, nonsensical wars because of political vendettas
Starting point is 00:05:13 that a president had of his daddy's un-concluded efforts in the Middle East or whichever way it is that they rational to put people at war. I never had to take that vote, and I would have not voted to put us at war. Quite frankly, I drew a line in the sand that I said, enough bloodshed of Americans, enough American treasure being literally blown to smithereens abroad.
Starting point is 00:05:42 I support my voting record, and I think it's won much better. Even though it's only 11 months of a voting record, it's better than people who have been there 30 years. Right, but in November 2023, a House Ethics Report found that you had blatantly stolen from your campaign. That's not true. And exploited every aspect of your House candidacy for your own personal financial profit. That's also not true.
Starting point is 00:06:04 Well, that's what they found. Well, that's what they think. That's what they speculated. They didn't come to a conclusion. Well, that was their conclusion. No, that was not a conclusion. That ethics report was not a conclusion. It was, again...
Starting point is 00:06:13 But it was on the basis of that, that the vote happened, that threw you out. Pierce, just look at this. Their report is so lambasically bad. Michael Guess is such an abject failure of a chairman of the ethics committee. He has his own issues with ethics himself. I don't think he knew ethics if it looked at him in the face. But... Would you?
Starting point is 00:06:32 I do. And in his report... What do you think ethics means? Well, give me a second. Let me conclude this thought. In his report, he says that I'm exonerated from any accusation of sexual harassment towards a potential staffer, which was a blatant false hit on me by somebody who just wanted to infiltrate my staff. And then on his expulsion resolution, he says that I committed a sexual assault against that same individual. Which one is it, Pierce?
Starting point is 00:06:55 It's a contradiction that nobody can understand. It's so sloppily done. But that wasn't why you were thrown out. Well, the fact that it was contrarian to what was in the report, but was in the resolution to expel me should just give you a little glimpse of understanding how sloppy the process was. There was only one accepted predetermined result, and they didn't want to do the full investigative report, which would have taken more months more. Why would your own fellow Republicans be party to throwing you out if you're such an innocent little flower?
Starting point is 00:07:27 I'm not saying I'm an innocent little flower. Nobody's an innocent little flower neither. You are neither. I am none of those 434 members in Congress right now. I'm saying we're all human, we all make mistakes, we all are flawed human beings, and I believe that fundamentally. But the way that this witch hunt of an ethics investigation on me was in Congress was completely unethical. It says a lot when I have to say in sight that the DOJ has been far better, courteous, and respectful of the process that we're undergoing. And the ethics committee just completely squander themselves.
Starting point is 00:08:00 But the irony of what you're saying is that they found of an extensive investigation that it was you that had been completely unethical. For example, you spent campaign money on Botox treatments, luxury fashion purchases, trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas, holidays and the Hamptons, even your own rent. That's not true. None of it is true. No, it's not.
Starting point is 00:08:21 As a political candidate, we travel all across the country to raise funds. Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Hamptons. Am I the first politician with an expenditure in the Hamptons with fundraisers attached to it? They're full of crap. They just used buzzwords to get folks like you in the media to be able to go up in arms and say, oh my God, George Santos did this and that and ABCD. I only care about what you did.
Starting point is 00:08:46 Well, my point is I didn't do any of that. And they know damn right. So when they say you were frequently in debt, had an abysmal credit school, relied on the ever-growing wallet of high-interest credit cards to fund your luxury spending habits. Is that all so untrue? I'm not abysmally in death. Wasn't then, am not now, have always paid all my credit cards off. And the amount and volume of credit cards I keep, that's just to show you that they're out of touch with the American people.
Starting point is 00:09:11 Every single American is dwindling with high interest credit cards because of decisions, politicians like that make in Washington, D.C. I was no different. I was no different. But is that shameful to have in my – I don't have abysmal credit. Like, it's, it's baloney. It's absolute bullshit from the Ethics Committee because they're a bunch of little lords who have – if you look at the panel of the committee, just look at the committee for the whole itself, right? And you look at the records of all those people. Those people have all been in politics their entire careers. They don't
Starting point is 00:09:44 know what it's to be a regular citizen. You claim to own multiple properties in a luxury car, a Maserati. Is that true? I'm sorry? You claim to own multiple properties. I own a Jaguar. I don't own a Maserati. Do you ever claim to own a Maserati? I have not. I own a Jaguar. I owned a Mercedes in the past, a Range Rover, but not a Mazurie. Why did you tell your staff, campaign stuff, you had a Maserati? I'd love to see that. That was in the report? That was in the report?
Starting point is 00:10:07 I didn't even read that part in the report. That's not true? I have a Jaguar. I love my Jaguar. You never told one of your staff you had a Maserati? No, not that I recall. I always drove a Mercedes during the campaign and then a Jaguar. You used to pay credit card debt and make purchases from companies getting Hermes, Onlyfans,
Starting point is 00:10:26 and Sephora. And you did this from a company, Redstone, which paid you at least $200,000. and you use that money to then go on the spending spree with those things. Is that true? Okay. No, I'm not going to go into the details of this because it's- Why? You already have.
Starting point is 00:10:42 It's such bullshit. Yeah, but hang on. George, you can't say that some of it is bullshit. Pierce. And then when I ask you a specific line like that and say, I'm not going to talk with that. I'm going to go this way. I'm not going to continue to unpack what I already did on the House floor of the United States. I call this out on the House floor on debate of this expulsion.
Starting point is 00:10:59 It's so misconstrued, it's so twisted. spun. That report, Pierce, that report, no cop in America would bring it to a DA. No decent DA, no decent prosecutor, would look at this report and say this is a legal finding report. That is a political
Starting point is 00:11:17 spin assassination attempt. But you called the committee... The committee is thought, look, not even all of the members of the committee voted to expel me. You called them unethical. You said that it's all bullshit. I call Michael guess unethical. But specifically, this company Redstone that paid you at least
Starting point is 00:11:32 $600,000, did you use that money to pay off credit card debt? I've said no to that. And purchased things from Hermes' only found. I've already said no. You didn't? I already said no, yes. You didn't spend any of that money on those things? Here's a deal, Pierce.
Starting point is 00:11:45 The way that they did this, it was designed to hurt me because they needed a way to get me out. I'm not here to hurt you. No, I'm not saying you. You can tell me the truth. And I'm telling you the truth. And I'm defending myself. I'm not going to stop defending myself. So none of the findings they found the truth.
Starting point is 00:12:00 Pierce, I provided them with all the documents. documents, all the financials. And then they released my taxes all out in the public, which is something that I didn't even give consent to. Like I lost all my rights as an American citizen. My HIPAA rights were violated. My privacy rights were violated. Every single right of mine was violated by the Ethics Committee and nobody's talking about that. Nobody. Nobody cares to talk about the fact that my hip rights are violated. My privacy rights are violated. The Ethics Committee did a number on me. If I were like any other rights, politician. Matter of fact, if I was Michael Guest, I'd be sitting in a corner crying and weeping, but I'm not Michael Guest. I have a backbone and I'm not going to stay, I'm not going to cowtow to what they want to. If you're so innocent, why are you facing 23 federal charges? I'm going to go ahead and fight that. I'm not discussing my DOJ proceedings on TV. This is not where I'm arbitrated.
Starting point is 00:12:52 Well, you were the first dimension of the DOJ. I gave a contrast, but I'm not discussing the process. Right, but you get my point. If you're as innocent as you're trying to make out, why would you be facing 23 federal charges which could carry a punishment of 20 years in prison. I guess you'll see that once the process plays out. That's all I can say. But you've denied all these charges. Like I said, I'm playing the process out, not getting into the DOJ. Probably you have denied them, as a matter of fact.
Starting point is 00:13:19 Yeah, I pled not guilty. But you're aware of the severity of the charges? No, I'm very aware. You know, conspiracy to commit offenses against America, wire fraud, false statements, falsification of records and documents, aggravated identity. identity theft, access device fraud, unlawful monetary transactions over $10,000, theft of public money. These are serious charges. There's serious charges, and I'm playing the process and fighting them as I go.
Starting point is 00:13:44 But if you've denied them all, none of them are true? Like I said, Pierce, I will not be discussing an ounce of the DOJ. You've got to have considered, this is going to come up in September, I think, your... Yep, September is your case, right? If you're convicted, you will likely... He'd go to prison for a long time. Are you prepared for that? Pierce, like I said, it's a scary thing to be facing.
Starting point is 00:14:09 It's a long barrel to be looking down. And of course, like any other human being, I would be worried, scared, and concerned. But right now, I'm going through the process, and I have faith. I have faith. But in your quiet moments away from the public George Santos, when you think about what may happen,
Starting point is 00:14:31 that's a type of. It's a tough thing, isn't it? It's not easy, no. It's definitely not easy, but we go along with the ride and you just got to take it on the chin and take it like a champ and move on. Life goes on. Since we did our last interview, obviously I went through a lot of things which people had said you were lying about and you...
Starting point is 00:14:59 I've dispelled a lot of them in the media afterwards and I was able to get vindicated on at least some of them. I'm going to go through them just to bring us up to speed to see where we are with all this, right? So on schooling, you said you attended the prestigious Horace Mann School in New York for six months. The school said there was no record. Has that record emerged? Were you there? I'm sorry, no.
Starting point is 00:15:21 You were never there? No. Why did you say you were? Well, at Horaceman, there was an enrollment. There was... You weren't there? I was not there for various reasons. You claimed you were. That's fine.
Starting point is 00:15:34 And I... No, I'm just curious why? I admitted afterwards that I was now. Yeah, I'm just curious, why? Well, it's a long story, Pierce. Is there a short version? No, there isn't really. Isn't it just that you lied?
Starting point is 00:15:43 No, no, it's not just that I lied. There's a longer version of it. Try me. Pierce, it's a long story. I've got all day. Well, so do I. Does your camera? Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:15:55 Look, or get more film. It has to do with my parents getting me a deal to enroll, and then the whole thing falling through and then just not being able to afford it. So it was an enrollment. Yeah, but the lie was that you said you went there. Yes. Yes, yes, I didn't go there.
Starting point is 00:16:10 Business education. I've already cleared that up with you and with everyone else, right? Business education. We established in our interview last time that you're claiming to have got a degree in economics and finance from Burwick College and the Masters from New York University were both false. That hasn't changed, right? There's been no, that was false again. No, has not changed. You just made it up?
Starting point is 00:16:30 Like we said last time. Any other reason that you want to share or was just, you made it up? No. Okay. on your resume that you worked in Wall Street, you then said it wasn't written by you, is what you told me last time. It was not.
Starting point is 00:16:46 But by a staff, you said to me, you have plenty of emails to prove you were uncomfortable with that. Have you produced those emails? Yes. And what do they establishes that I'm not comfortable with the way the bio was written and the way the CV was written. That somebody was inventing a Wall Street career for you? No, no. Not inventing a Wall Street career.
Starting point is 00:17:05 I worked in finance and capital markets for years. for years. Let's establish that between Linkbridge investors, Met Global, and Harbor City, even though Harbor City ended up being defunct after my departure. The reality is, I did have the career, I did have the relationships. People like to say that I never worked a day in my life. That's a line that runs rampant. Did you work in Wall Street? Well, in the sense of Wall Street on Wall Street, proper, no. In that industry around surrounding Wall Street, yes.
Starting point is 00:17:35 Your Jewish ancestry, you always claimed Jewish and Ukrainian ancestry and said your grandparents survived the Holocaust and fled persecution. When I quizzed you about that in the last interview, you said you would battle this to your grave. And I will. You said you'd ordered four DNA kits and were waiting on their return to confirm your ancestry. I have them. Have you used them? They're going to be used in a documentary, so they're embargoed. Right, so it's been nearly a year since you said you were going to do that.
Starting point is 00:18:04 Well, I decided to do it in my own terms and it's getting done. And you believe that DNA test will prove that you are Jewish? I know it will. I know it will. I know it will. And I'm looking very much forward to it. Your mystery married certificate, you said you'd show me once the camera stopped rolling, but you didn't. Can you show me now?
Starting point is 00:18:27 Is there a marriage? I probably have it, but I'm not going to show it to on camera. You can't show me to. Not on camera. I'll show it to after it rolls just remind me. just remind me. Yeah. How long have you been married? Since November 20, November 2021.
Starting point is 00:18:39 This November... Who you married to? Matt is his name. Who's Matt? Matt Santos. That's his last name. Matt Santos. Yep.
Starting point is 00:18:47 I love that you guys are so intrigued with my spouse. Well, it's only because you've been married to women. I was married to a woman. Now you're married to a man. It's interesting. But is that very unique at all? No. Okay.
Starting point is 00:18:59 It's not unique. It's at all, right? It's quite frankly. You've just been very slow in being forthcoming. coming about it? No, I'm not. I've always said I was married to a woman first. I mean, folks who know me knew I was married.
Starting point is 00:19:10 The problem is the media thought they knew me, and they just wanted to create outrage. Nobody talks about that obsession about the media. No politician has... You love being news. No politician has ever gone under the modest group. I've never met anyone other than Donald Trump who loves being in the news for good, bad and ugly reasons in you, ever. I don't like being in the news.
Starting point is 00:19:28 But I've learned one thing, here's... I've learned one thing after Congress. You don't like being in the news? I did not like it at first. Now, I've learned one thing. Now, you love it. Well, of course, it pays my bills. The more relevant you guys keep me.
Starting point is 00:19:41 Actually, you love it. Back then, I did not like it. It was very off-putting. When you run for office, you're running for office, but I don't think you quite comprehend everything else that comes with it and all that lack of, I guess, privacy. You lose your privacy rights, essentially, right? We talked about your mother, who I know you were very close to.
Starting point is 00:20:00 You doubled down in our interview that she, had died as a consequence of 9-11. But there's still no record of her ever working anywhere near the Trade Center. No one's been able to find it. In fact, quite the opposite. They found evidence of visa applications showing she wasn't even in the country at the time. Do you want to green card holder, visa application? And she died 15 years later and there's no evidence she died of anything relating to what happened on 9-11. So here's your chance to clarify. That's already been clarified in the documentary coming out later this year. Well, you can't keep saying you've got put stuff in a documentary.
Starting point is 00:20:33 But it is there, and I can't talk about it. I have a contract on it. But is your position that your mother still died as a result in a documentary? Just answer the question. I can't answer it. That's ridiculous. I can't.
Starting point is 00:20:43 I can't. Your new position is I've got a documentary. I can't answer. No, not on everything. I've been giving you answers. There's things that are embargoed for the documentary. And I'd love for you to see it. Do you accept that if you'd invented that,
Starting point is 00:20:55 that would be pretty awful? Anybody who would invent something like that would be awful. So if you were constructed a story that your mother died because of 9-11. Pierce, let's put it this way. I would never construct anything about my mother. My mother was my best friend.
Starting point is 00:21:08 My mother was my favorite human being. And the fact that I have to see people right and the vitriol around things, the disgusting things that people have called my mother and the disgusting things that people have said regarding my mother. I mean, disgusting garbage on social media. The most heartless people live on social media
Starting point is 00:21:26 behind a screen. And the fact that I have to see that. Look, I don't want to be fair to trolls, but what I would say about the criticism is that you initially implied to people your mother died in 9-11 and it was in the towers She was nowhere near the tower. She didn't work in the towers She may not have even been in the country your documentary may well reveal the story about that But certainly there's no evidence that your mother had anything to do with what happened on 9-11 You'll see you'll see it in the documentary I promise you promise you that
Starting point is 00:21:57 The Pulse nightclub we talked about that again talk about that that you said you lost four employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting. Can I clarify something there? When I say four employees, not my employees, I didn't own the company. And the employees, and I doubled on, they weren't hired, they were in process. The company had just moved to Orlando, was in a massive hiring spree, and this was the information given to me at the time by the people up top in the company, and I maintained that position.
Starting point is 00:22:24 I have no reason to infiltrate myself into a disaster like that, nilly-willy. And the great thing is the record show, I was in Orlando. On that night, I was in Orlando, that entire year, matter of fact, of 2016. And it's just so frustrating that people try to say, he said he owned the company. I never said I own the company. When I work for a company, for whatever station you work for, whether it's Fox Nation or Sky News, you wear their shirt. At least I do.
Starting point is 00:22:52 And I say, the company, my company. The criticism is, George, that people think that you've attached yourself to a lot of very big moments in history, whether it's your grandparents at the Holocaust, whether it's your mother or 9-11, whether it's a Pulse nightclub mass shooting, that you have used these events to promote yourself in some way
Starting point is 00:23:15 as being attached to these things to make yourself look better. How does that make you look better? Because they're saying that you were somehow involved in some way that you were the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, as you were the son of a 9-11 survivor and so on, when in fact there's no evidence these things are true. Hundreds of thousands of people are associated
Starting point is 00:23:38 to Holocaust descendants. How does that make anybody look better? It was a tragedy. No, but it's a story that adds to your compelling personal narrative unless it's untrue. Here's the most frustrating thing that happened to me last year was me losing my voice. That is something I could never explain to you how fresh
Starting point is 00:23:58 What'd you mean losing your voice? My story was told by everyone in the media, all the talking heads. I never got... You didn't lose your voice. Oh, you sure about them. You didn't stop yapping all year? Oh, no, that's not true. It is true.
Starting point is 00:24:11 That's not true. I could yap all I want, I can talk all I want. But at the end of the day, everyone in the media had a final say. I never got the final say to anything. Nobody ever... nobody bothered to do any real digging. You in our interview doubled down on your denial you'd ever performed as a drag queen, despite pictures of you as a drag queen. That one picture, that one incident,
Starting point is 00:24:33 in a carnival when I was 18 years old. So you did perform as a drag queen? I did not perform. I dressed up once. I was 18 years old. Come on, Rudy Giuliani got motorboated by Donald Trump and nobody called him a career drag queen. An assassination attempt, you said, happened on you.
Starting point is 00:24:51 You said that there been this. That is poor translation. Well, the Rachel Maddow show got the footage of the podcast where you made this claim. translated it word for word. You denied you'd ever said that you'd had an attempt on your life and assassination attempt.
Starting point is 00:25:05 In fact, the exact translation of what you said on that podcast in Brazil was we have already suffered an attempt on my life, an assassination attempt. So you did say that. I did, and I suffered many more afterwards. Last year. Assassination attempts?
Starting point is 00:25:19 There is a man right now in trial or in the process of whatever it is the DOJ is doing. in Florida for literally conspiring and telling us, leaving a voicemail at my congressional office that he was going to kill me and my husband. And it was a serious, you know why? It was serious. The man had a rap sheet.
Starting point is 00:25:39 He had time he served or whatever the case was. He left the explicit voicemail and capital police acted on it and the DOJ and the FBI. There were some things we didn't get around to, wanted to clear up. One was that you were a volleyball champion. You told a radio show in 2020, you were a star volleyball player at Baruch College. Well, we can all know where that ended up, right?
Starting point is 00:26:02 Is that true? No. I played volleyball in high school, definitely not in college. Right. Were you at Baruch College? No. So you weren't there, let alone being a star volleyball player. All of it was invented.
Starting point is 00:26:13 Yep. Why, George? Oh, Pierce, there's so... Hmm? I got to tell you if I... You said you slayed Yale. Baruch's volleyball team... Well, they actually did slay Yale, but I...
Starting point is 00:26:25 I wasn't part of him. Baruch's volleyball team didn't even play against Yale in the period you claimed to have been there. They did play Yale at one point. So you were claiming to be a volleyball star for a college you never went to in a game where you slay Yale, even that they didn't play Yale in that period. Every single part of it was a whopper. Pretty much, yeah, unfortunately. Again, why?
Starting point is 00:26:49 Here's the thing I don't really get about you. Because you're very charismatic. You have a lot of qualities. I can see that. But can you explain to people why you have been such an habitual liar, often for no reason? Pierce, it's deeply rooted in the process of politics back in New York. I've said this so many times. Oh, if only I could some things and sometimes.
Starting point is 00:27:17 Look, I'm not at the liberty of speaking of uncertain things because, again, I have an entire process with the DOJ ahead of me. It would be stupid. It'd be ill-advisable. And I wouldn't do myself any favors. But there's... Some people think you have a sort of mental disorder. I don't. Have you ever had any treatment? First of all, I am not a pathological liar. Second of all... What do you think that means? Well, somebody who's lied for a living. Yeah, you have.
Starting point is 00:27:46 But that's not true. But it's true. So you're saying that out of my 35 years of existence, the stupidity of the last two years is going to make up for the entirety of my life? I would say that the litany of lies you told when you decided to run for office absolutely constitute pathological lie. When you self-reflect, have you been able to work out what it is about you, which made you lie so brazenly
Starting point is 00:28:21 so often, but often for no real reason that anyone can really work out other than you just lied? You know, Pierce, no. No, there's nothing I can say to that. There must be a reason, though. No. Really? No.
Starting point is 00:28:37 Unfortunately, no. But you're sure it's not a mental disorder? It's not a mental disorder. How can you be certain? Okay, well, are you willing to diagnose me here and now? No, I'm just curious. How do you know it's not? Oh, Pierce.
Starting point is 00:28:53 Life hasn't been pretty, I'll put it that way. And clearly, the last two years were tough. Things that happened in the campaign, I could barely ever even attempt to start explaining it. So I always choose to just, it is what it is. Because you actually came into Congress as a breath of fresh air, you had a big win. You were seen as an electoral, big electoral force.
Starting point is 00:29:22 A powerhouse. I was a powerhouse. And you hit Congress. You were the first openly gay Republican congressman. With a 16.5 point victory swing from a Biden's seat. So all of this was great, right? And yet you've blown that whole thing up because it turned out that you just had told endless lies. And the question is everyone wants to know, and you've never really answered is why.
Starting point is 00:29:48 And it's fascinating to me that you just don't have an answer or you don't want to give me an answer. No, I don't have an answer for you. I really don't. Something in your childhood? No. Nothing? No. Nothing triggered this?
Starting point is 00:30:05 No. No. You can't explain it. No, can't explain it. Sorry, Pierce. You don't have to apologize to me. Oh, I think you probably... I've apologized to the American people many times and I continue to do that.
Starting point is 00:30:29 Yeah, I don't think... I mean, listen, saying sorry to the American people, I'm a terrible lie, it's fine, all right? What do you say to your husband? Well, he must have... asked you about all of it? We've had conversations. Did he know about all the lies or was he finding out by the media? He found out by the media.
Starting point is 00:30:44 And what was his reaction? Because he loves you, he married you. Obviously not positive, but we work our way through our personal stuff together. He's your husband. He must have asked you to explain it. We have had a year for the books, both of us, with our lives being turned in inside out. You need to understand that everything that happened to me affected my family. My husband, my sisters, my parents, everybody, you know, my father, my mother's past. But it's, it's been tough. Believe it or not, it's been really tough to even sit down and unpack any of it as
Starting point is 00:31:23 Have you cried a lot in the last year? I'm an emotional person. I'm not scared of saying that. Crying is something that I actually do a lot in private. I don't think anybody has ever seen me cry, but it's, yeah, I'm an emotional person, very emotional, so it's not uncommon. Do you still lie? No, I have no reason to. I think... When did you decide to stop? It's not about stopping or when I decided to start.
Starting point is 00:31:53 It is. It is. It's about lying is stupid, period, right? And I think we all know that. But when you've lied on your scale, when you've been that dishonest about every part of your life? Not every part. You keep saying every part of my life. Well, pretty much.
Starting point is 00:32:05 Not pretty much. So you're going to define my entire life to my work and education, period. That's what you're doing. That's literally what you're doing. You're defying my entire life based on two aspects of a human's life, which one would say is not even 10% of a person's life, right? Is your entire life your work and your education? It's not.
Starting point is 00:32:24 You have family, you have friends, you have a plethora of experiences as a human being. So to say my entire life, that's broadly bullshit. And it's offensive. It's really darn offensive. I can assure you there's so much more I can offer. Not just you and your viewers, but the world. What? Like what?
Starting point is 00:32:42 You ask. I don't know. You tell me. You need to ask. You'll sell yourself. There's another side to you. I've sold myself. I'm a good person.
Starting point is 00:32:50 I'm the person that you can call at 3 o'clock in the morning. I have friends who have spoken to journalists. I've helped friends out of abusive relationships. I've helped friends out of literally being out in the street. I am a good person. I go out of my way. I take the clothes off my back quite literally to help people. You've been on cameo, which has caused a lot of entertainment to people,
Starting point is 00:33:11 people to try to go. Have you been on there? No. You should join. You'd be a hit. But your rates gone down. Oh, it went. So the peak, it was $500.
Starting point is 00:33:20 And I decided, what are you now? 350. I'm still top 2%. How many requests you get a week? On a good week, now after the New Year's, it's been one week. I've gotten about 35 or 40, something. something like that. They're still coming in steadily.
Starting point is 00:33:35 I reduced them, first of all, the reason I jacked them up was to deter a little bit of the volume and I still did 1,200 videos in that short spam. You find that fulfilling or just do it for money? Well, first of all, I think it's fun. I enjoy the connection with them. And obviously, I have my bills to pay Pierce
Starting point is 00:33:52 and if that's how I'm gonna facilitate to pay my bills, I mean, there's no shame in that it's honest work. Or do you disagree? No, I think you're perfectly tired to do it. There's nothing unethical about doing cameo. I know lots of people on came here. Like I said, I think you should do it. You'd be a hit.
Starting point is 00:34:07 I'm sure I would. I don't need to do it. Well, why not? Is it beneath you? I just think I can't think of anything I'd rather less do than spend more day recording. If people ask me for videos, I do it for free. I mean, I do them for free too.
Starting point is 00:34:19 Do you know how many people? They're like, oh, I can't afford to camera. What do you want me to say? I said the friends and family. Do you feel, George, do you feel, even if you can't explain why you lied so much, do you feel now that it's all blown up in your face. Do you feel a sense of shame or not really? Terrible shame and I've displayed that many times. But here's the thing. I have nothing
Starting point is 00:34:43 to lose. The truth will set me free. I am not going to say anything. I mean, you know the irony of that statement. Well, yeah, sure, there's irony there, but here's a bit... The truth might set you free. Here's a bit... Right? I mean, actually, in that one sentence might well be the thing that sets you free. No, here's... Actually, from now on, saying, I'm going to tell the truth. Well, that's what I've been doing, and it's making a lot of people uncomfortable. So I recently was wearing a pin that said they were fools to set me free,
Starting point is 00:35:11 as in my colleagues in Congress, because I just won't stop talking. Well, some of the things you say about Congress, I think, have real validity, right? They're true. Congress has passed fewer bills, I think, in this stage of the administration onto Joe Biden than in history at this stage. When you look at Joe Biden and you look at Donald Trump, and there may be the two that duke it out for the White House. Both of them have got a pretty checkered history
Starting point is 00:35:37 when it comes to veracity. Do you think there's an irony there that you've been thrown out of office for persistent lying? Joe Biden has been lying since before I was born. Joe Biden was lying in his first presidential campaign. Joe Biden is a prolific liar. Donald Trump? I don't understand what the observation.
Starting point is 00:36:00 is with his license. Tell me one lie that Donald Trump has said that is, is, even comes close to Joe Biden. Just give me one. Well, saying he had nothing to do with January 6th. He didn't. He didn't. I was there.
Starting point is 00:36:15 I was at the ellipse. He didn't. He was still speaking. I was second or third row at the ellipse in a muddy pit of cold mud. He was still speaking. And there were people already in their own volition breaking into the Capitol. Because he told them to go down there.
Starting point is 00:36:29 He said March. Fight. Peacefully. He'd actually said go down and fight. Like hell. And then when they did start fighting, he did nothing until it was too late to stop them. How many politicians have said the terms
Starting point is 00:36:40 fight like hell? Republicans and Democrats, that is a figure of speech. How many have stood there having done that and watched rioting take place and refused to stop it until it's too late? He acted on it as soon as he got to the white. No, he didn't. No, he didn't.
Starting point is 00:36:54 Oh, come on. He didn't. Accusing Donald Trump of having any involvement with January 6 and turning a blind eye to Nancy Pelosi being Speaker of the House, having declined extra security measures for the Capitol that day at the request of President Trump is then you're being a hypocrite. If you don't bring up Nancy Pelosi,
Starting point is 00:37:14 she wanted the political theater. She got the political theater. She wanted a riot. She wanted a riot. Oh, don't be ridiculous. Don't be ridiculous. Don't be ridiculous. Donald Trump had anything to do with it.
Starting point is 00:37:24 It's equally ridiculous. I find it bizarre that you don't think Donald Trump has also told him a lot of lies in his life. I just don't. I don't see it. Have you heard from him since what happened to? No, I have not. Do you expect to?
Starting point is 00:37:43 He's busy. He's running for president. I am... He spends his life on the phone. I really hope I am not anywhere near the top 100 issues of Trump right now because then I would be concerned... Who's bothered to call you? I received calls from my colleagues in Congress repeatedly.
Starting point is 00:37:58 I still have great friends there. I talked to them. I was on... before I came here, I was on the phone with three of them. We're on the phone regularly. I built everlasting relationships with people on both sides of the aisle, not just Republicans. Just recently, I was a Democrat out of Florida calls me. He's at a mixer or whatever, and there was a couple of my constituents there giving him a hard time that he expelled me. And he's like, look, I have some of your supporters here, and they're mad at me.
Starting point is 00:38:22 A Democrat. Donald Trump was to win the election, and he might well, the way the polls are going on. I believe he will, by a landslide. If he did, and he decided to bring you out of the coal, would you accept? Would you accept? What does that mean? Well, if you said to you, I've got some job in my administration for you. I'd love to work for you.
Starting point is 00:38:38 You might look at you to think, a young, dynamic gay Republican, all right, he's flawed, but so am I. All right, he's done some bad stuff. So did I. But I'm now back as president. I'm going to bring back George Santos. I put it out there. I'd love to be ICE director. Was that serious thing?
Starting point is 00:38:53 That's serious. That's serious. What would you do if you were? I speak four languages. I understand logistics. I'm really good on my feet. What would you do if you were the ICE director? It's very simple.
Starting point is 00:39:01 It's about re-stratigizing ICE. First of all, assuming that the president would give ICE its power back, and assuming that we can go ahead and sue into oblivion all these sanctuary nonsense laws so that the federal government can do its job. Here's a problem with ICE today. ICE has been handicapped for decades at this point. Nobody has ever taken it serious, but I remember as a little boy, 13 years old, being on the 7th train in New York City that runs into Queens to Manhattan
Starting point is 00:39:28 and having ice stops. Those were common right after 9-11 because they weren't. We're picking up bad people on the train. Now, why don't we bring that back? I think it's time we act. New York City has probably the largest propensity of people living there with removal's proceedings, which means you have a deportation mandate on you, and they defy it and live blatantly in the open there.
Starting point is 00:39:53 Just with the Joe Biden administration alone, 10 million came in in three years. There's no way we have 12 million. No, the situation on the board is completely out of control. Absolutely nonsense. And Joe Biden is showing. own no ability to stem the tide at all. Majorcas is a dereliction of duty. If you were to look up in a dictionary,
Starting point is 00:40:12 dereliction of duty, it should be Alejandro myorcas is facing there now. I mean, you talk of dereliction of duty. Do you think that you've been derelict in your duty? No, I serve. That's why you're sitting here now, because you lost to- I served every single day, honorably. I didn't do anything dishonorable while in Congress.
Starting point is 00:40:26 I voted honorably, I voted. The only votes I missed was when I had court dates, couldn't control that. You're facing 23 federal criminal charges. I've been accused of only things before I was elected, nothing after I was elected. I have been accused of nothing during my time as a member of Congress.
Starting point is 00:40:42 So you told no lies once you became a congressman? I had no reason to. You can look at my record. So what was the reason before? Pierce, like I said, not. But I'm curious. I mean, you said I had no reason to. What I'm trying to?
Starting point is 00:40:55 But it does beg the question again, what was the reason before? Okay, so poor choice of words, not reason. There was no need to lie or no, no, no, no. What was a need before, George? Again, Pierce, I can go back and say... There was no need. But do we all control stupid sometimes? No, stupid is stupid.
Starting point is 00:41:14 You do stupid things and you can't control it, and you move past. Here's the point I want to make to you. I can't help liking you. Right? There's something very likable about you as a person. I can't help. They're a good friend. That's what every friend of mine ever told me.
Starting point is 00:41:27 Yeah. So you have a lot of likable qualities. You're charismatic. They're good on TV. You know, you're clearly smart, right? You clearly got deep flaws. If you do want to make a comeback, and it sounds to me like you absolutely do,
Starting point is 00:41:42 the way you talk about potentially running ice, may not be such a bad idea, right? You've got lots of energy for it. But if you were to ever even be considered for that, you'd have to tell people and show people that you changed. Do you think you're capable of that? I'm doing it all this year already throughout my actions and moving forward.
Starting point is 00:42:00 Do you think the one thing, American people have appreciated the most after I left Congress is me not being afraid to just call it like it is. I saw the sausage be made pierce and now I just want to share with everybody how the sausage is made and why we are in the predicament we are as a country. What would your mother have said to you about all this children? Oh, she would have smacked me to hell. Oh, my God.
Starting point is 00:42:22 Oh, she was tough lady. She would have physically smacked you. Oh, she would have physically assaulted me. Why? It was unacceptable. What was? Everything, the whole thing was unacceptable. Even-
Starting point is 00:42:34 But what would she have found most egregious about your behavior? I would just say the fact that I had to open my mouth and say anything that wasn't true, she would just beat me to her crisp. She would have pulled out a wooden stick. You don't know that one. Did you ever lie to her? Oh, I knew better than to do that.
Starting point is 00:42:53 I knew better. Oh, I definitely knew better. The one time I did, I caught a beating, but it was a white little lie. Where were you? Oh, my friend's house? No, you weren't. I went there and you weren't there.
Starting point is 00:43:02 Okay, whoops. So things teenagers do, nothing could say. Does your father have the same attitude to truth? My father is the most honest man you'll ever meet. So this is, again, fascinating to me. You've got two parents who sound like honesty is a real premium to them. Honesty, hard work stay, very big deal for both. Do you feel like you let them down?
Starting point is 00:43:28 Yes. Yes. Do you miss your mother? It sounds like she was hugely important to you. Absolutely. Not a day goes by. Seven years, December 23rd, that I lost my mom. Seven years that feel like yesterday.
Starting point is 00:43:43 Do you talk to her over? I talk, you know, you're going to call me crazy, but yes, every day before I go to bed, I throw some words up there, and I hope she's always listening. What do you say? I just talk about whatever the day went or how I'm feeling.
Starting point is 00:43:57 Like part of my prayers. Believe it or not, I'm actually a praying man still very much. Do you think what's happened to you would have happened if she'd stay alive? No. No, it would. Because you wouldn't have another.
Starting point is 00:44:11 She would have guided me much better. That was my compass right there. Sad. Absolutely. It's sad. It's really sad. Pierce, life is sometimes full of twists and turns, up and downs. And I'm not immune to it.
Starting point is 00:44:31 Nobody's immune to it. We all go through it. And we all, I believe we all come back stronger from controversy or from a situation like this. George, if you end up going to prison, and obviously there's a possibility you're facing very serious charges, if you do, do you think you could handle it?
Starting point is 00:44:48 I don't know, Pierce. Have you thought about it? I try not to think of negatives like that. I try to think as positive as humanly possible. I'm 35 years old. I trust the process. I have not been somebody critical of the DOJ, unlike some other colleagues of mine, I always have given our organizations, our
Starting point is 00:45:10 entities, FBI, DOJ, CIA credibility because the moment I lose faith in them, I lose faith in this entire country. So, but I do trust the process and I'm going to fight it. What's your biggest regret about the whole thing? I have many regrets. What's your biggest? If I could do it all over and I'd do it very differently. What would you do? My story is compelling as is.
Starting point is 00:45:30 Right. As is. You remind me a little bit of the Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort, when I interviewed him. It's from my district. You didn't need to embellish your story. Maybe the way I look at it is God had intended a different path, maybe. That's the only thing I can say. I believe in, I'm faithful, so I believe in there's always a reason why things happen a certain way.
Starting point is 00:45:57 So maybe I was destined to go do other things, learn a little bit about what's in there, so I can come out here and open the eyes of the American people and maybe start a revolution, a political revolution that we really have to have in this country. What's your final message for people watching this? Don't count me out. I've given many people a second chance, and I'm asking everybody to please give me a second chance,
Starting point is 00:46:24 and I will come forward and prove to be worth your second chance. And I just want people to look at that, and say so many people make mistakes. We all make mistakes if you really take a look deep inside. And I'm sorry. And I look forward to continuing to be a voice for those who seek leadership in me. George, it's good to see you again. And I'll see you all the very best.
Starting point is 00:46:52 Thank you very much. Whatever happens.

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