Defeated New York congressional candidate Robert Zimmerman (D) on Tuesday has called for Rep.-elect George Santos (R), his former opponent, to resign and for another election to be held after Santos admitted that he had lied about his professional and educational qualifications.
Santos during an interview with the New York Post acknowledged the inconsistencies in his background but argued that his campaign was not run on his “resume” but rather on focusing on people’s concerns.
In response to this Zimmerman took to Twitter to say, “George, if that’s even your real name, if you’re so convinced that #NY3 voters still trust you – resign & run against me again in a special election.” He added that Santos will need to answer the questions that voters will have about his background and criminal history in order to decide whether they would still like to see him in office.
Last month Santos managed to flip the Long Island District after Rep. Tom Suozzi (D) stepped down in order to aim for the state’s governorship. Santos won the midterm election by 8 percentage points, marking a key victory for Republicans in New York congressional districts. It was also an important victory for the party winning the House majority in the upcoming Congress.
However, the New York Times even before the election had published a report in which they outlined all of the inconsistencies in Santos’ background, including his claims that he had previously been employed by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and that he had a degree from New York’s Baruch College.
In the New York Post interview, Santos admits to having embellished his resume and for this, he apologized. Currently, he is set to take office on Jan. 3.
