Former U.S. Rep. George Santos of New York (left) sits down with comic Ziwe Fumudoh (proper) for a highly-anticipated interview about his views on Congress, private life and future plans. It revealed on YouTube on Monday.


Ziwe/Screenshot by NPR


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Ziwe/Screenshot by NPR

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos of New York (left) sits down with comic Ziwe Fumudoh (proper) for a highly-anticipated interview about his views on Congress, private life and future plans. It revealed on YouTube on Monday.

Ziwe/Screenshot by NPR

On Dec. 1, scandal-plagued New York Republican George Santos grew to become simply the sixth member of the House of Representatives to be expelled from Congress, over a rising checklist of alleged finance crimes and campaign lies.

Santos pleaded not guilty in October to a complete of 23 federal felony fees, starting from wire fraud and cash laundering to theft of public funds and making materially false statements to the House. A House Ethics Committee report launched earlier this month corroborated a lot of prosecutors’ allegations — and precipitated his ouster.

The following day, Ziwe Fumudoh, a comic well-known for her satirical strategy to grilling controversial celebrities, tweeted him an invitation for an interview, which he publicly accepted.

The “jokester and a national joke,” as Ziwe put it, did find yourself sitting down collectively for a cringe-filled dialog. The highly-anticipated video lastly hit YouTube on Monday — and lots of viewers felt it did not disappoint.

The 18-minute video spans every thing from Santos’ views on his former colleagues (“they’re all frauds”) to his definition of empathy (“I couldn’t define it”) to his tackle Bowen Yang’s Saturday Night Live impression (“he deserves an EGOT”).

Other notable mentions embrace Santos’ penchant for Botox (“since I’m 25”), his husband’s final identify (“not telling you”), his view on drag queens (“not for kids”) and his response to claims that he performed as a drag queen in Brazil within the aughts (“for a day when I was 18 years old … I wear far more makeup today”).

He addressed some viral moments from his tenure and teased plans for the longer term: He’s not inquisitive about Dancing with the Stars, is at present engaged on a e book and will not rule out one other run for workplace down the highway, both as a Republican or an Independent.

“I’ll be back. I’m 35. They’re all in their 50s,” he stated of his colleagues in Congress. “I’ll outlive them, each and last one of them.”

At one level Santos, who stated earlier this month that he is making more money recording customized Cameo videos than he did in authorities, answered a query absolutely on the minds of many: “What could we do to get you to go away?”

“Stop inviting me to your gigs,” he stated. “But you can’t. Because people want the content.”

Here’s what else we discovered.

Santos’ authorized troubles saved developing

A fast recap: The Department of Justice introduced 13 federal fees (starting from fraud to embezzlement) towards Santos in May, and one other 10 (together with id theft, bank card fraud and conspiracy) in October. But he managed to survive two efforts to expel him from the House.

The tide turned towards Santos this month after the discharge of the House Ethics Committee report, which discovered “substantial evidence” that he used marketing campaign funds for private bills, together with purchases from Sephora and OnlyFans.

Santos is about to go on trial on Long Island in September 2024, although court records launched final week present that he’s in talks with federal prosecutors within the hopes of reaching a plea deal.

Santos’ alleged misconduct was each a throughline and a punchline of the interview, regardless of his request — in a sidebar on set — that Ziwe “be mindful with the DOJ stuff.”

Ziwe repeatedly prompted Santos to say the phrase “icon,” the phrase she at all times used to explain her friends on her self-titled satirical speak present, which ran on Showtime for 2 seasons. But on this case, it held a not-subtle double which means.

“You con!” she stated, pointing at him at one level.

At one level, she joked that she would ship him a pin so long as he declared it on his taxes. He responded affirmatively: “I like paying taxes.”

In probably the most tense exchanges, Ziwe requested: “What advice do you have for young diverse people with personality disorders considering a career in politics?”

Santos stared at her for a beat earlier than responding, “You’re cute.”

She additionally requested him whether or not he likes the colour orange — to which he responded with “really?” When requested what excites him most about going to jail, Santos answered, “that’s a below-the-belt.”

As they spoke, a Hermès Birkin bag full of money sat on a shelf behind Santos. Ziwe made a present of grabbing it on the finish of the interview.

She additionally signed him a duplicate of her e book — scribbling out a message however not her signature. Santos jokingly famous that he “might need it later.”

Lawmakers and civil rights icons, as informed by Santos

Santos — who earlier this yr compared himself to Rosa Parks as a result of he refused to sit down at the back of Congress, and tried to downplay these remarks within the interview — received quizzed on a sequence of different notable civil rights figures.

When Ziwe requested what transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson meant to him, he elusively replied “very respectful, honorable person — keep going.” This response instructed he was unfamiliar. He additionally acknowledged he did not know of author James Baldwin or politician Harvey Milk, the primary brazenly homosexual man to be elected to public workplace in California.

But Santos did have loads of ideas on newsmakers of the day, particularly his former colleagues within the House of Representatives. They weren’t flattering — he harassed that he wasn’t in Congress “to play nice.”

“I was there to expose the rot and corruption and I did,” he stated. “And I’m going to continue to do it. Republicans and Democrats alike, swampy, slimy people selling this country down a river.”

Santos repeatedly sought to distance himself from Congress, saying he isn’t a politician and “hates politicking.”

“I was an elected public servant for 11 months, proud of it, never caved to the establishment of politics,” he stated.

When requested, Santos stated he might beat any member of Congress in a lip-sync battle. What track would he select?

“‘I Will Survive,” he stated. “It’s cliché. Why not?”

Santos says he ‘had a blast’

The interview has racked some 860,000 views on YouTube alone in simply over 24 hours because it went stay. Clips, quotes and scorching takes from the chat have been flooding social media.

Santos took to X, the social media platform previously generally known as Twitter, on Monday afternoon to mirror and try to appropriate the file.

He took situation with an onscreen message in the beginning of the video that learn: “No congressmen were paid in the making of this video … even though George Santos asked … three times.”

Santos tweeted that he by no means requested Ziwe “for a single penny,” saying he and his staff had solely sought to know what her invitation meant by “pay per view” interview.

“Anyway, I had a blast going back and forth with you and having fun with your tough as nails character!” he added. “Keep slaying mama!”

Ziwe has not commented publicly past sharing extra clips of the interview on social media.

Santos told the Washington Post on Sunday that Ziwe’s intense strategy to interviewing made him really feel like “I had to match her energy and being a little d*** myself.”

“She came for me,” he added. “She had funny puns, and she was witty with it. But I want to think that I held my own. And I had fun with it, too.”

Meanwhile, in New York, Republicans have selected Mazi Pilip — a Nassau County legislator and former Israeli paratrooper — to problem Democratic former congressman Tom Suozzi for Santos’ previous seat. The particular election is scheduled for Feb. 13.