George Santos declares he’ll vote for ‘ANYONE but’ Steve Scalise for House speaker
Lying Long Island Rep. George Santos became the latest House Republican to announce he will not vote for Majority Leader Steve Scalise to be the next speaker.
“It’s just past 9:40pm and I have yet to hear from the Speaker-Designate,” the scandal-scarred lawmaker wrote in a post to X, formely Twitter. “So I’ve made my decision and after 10 months and having had 0 contact or outreach from him, I’ve come to the conclusion that my VOTE doesn’t matter to him.
“I’m now declaring I’m an ANYONE but Scalise and come hell or high water I won’t change my mind,” Santos said.
House Republicans chose Scalise (R-La.) as their pick to replace ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in a closed-door vote Wednesday but opted to postpone an official floor vote after more than a dozen party members confirmed they would not support Scalise on the first ballot.
Santos joins seven members who have publically stated they will not cast their ballot for Scalise.
Reps. Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; Thomas Massie of Kentucky; and Chip Roy, Troy Nehls, and Michael Cloud of Texas each said they would vote for the GOP’s other top contender, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), meanwhile, said he would stand by McCarthy.
Santos whined about not being included by the majority leader in his reasoning.
“We need a Speaker that leads by including every single member of the team not just some, That’s not leadership!” he said on X.
Many Republicans, however, have sought to distance themselves from the troubled New York pol, who has been indicted on charges including fraud and money laundering — and most recently identity theft and wire fraud.
Six fellow New York GOPers want to boot Santos from the House altogether and plan to introduce “an expulsion resolution,” Nassau County Rep. Anthony D’Esposito announced Wednesday.
The announcement comes one day after Santos, 35, was slapped with a slew of new allegations when federal prosecutors unveiled a new indictment charging him with 10 additional counts — on top of earlier accusations of embezzling money from his campaign funds and lying to Congress.
The latest crime he’s accused of committing is stealing the identities of people who donated to his campaign and racking up tens of thousands of dollars on their credit cars unbeknownst to them.
In May, the Long Island politician was hit with 13 charges — including that he embezzled $50,000 in campaign money to buy designer clothing and pay personal expenses.
But even before the criminal probes, Santos came under fire for lying about seemingly everything in his background including his education, work experience and family history.
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