Many lawmakers try to line up near the aisle of the House chamber in hopes of getting a few seconds of time with the president before State of the Union addresses. On Tuesday, Rep. George Santos and Sen. Mitt Romney were among those members.
Cameras captured an exchange between Romney and Santos in the moments before President Joe Biden walked down the aisle. What did Romney have to say to Santos, who has been accused of lying about his credentials during the election?
“I didn’t expect that he would be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States given he is facing an ethics investigation,” Romney told reporters. “He should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room.”
Romney added that Santos “should not be in Congress” and that he is disappointed Speaker Kevin McCarthy has not called on Santos to resign.
Santos appeared to fire back at Romney, tweeting, “Just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!”
Nassau County GOP Chairman Joe Cairo joined dozens of other local leaders last month to demand that Santos step down.
"George Santos campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies, and fabrication," Cairo said.
Although Santos has remained defiant about calls to resign, he said he would not take committee assignments as he faces various ethics probes.
