Republican Rep.-elect George Santos, who faced a storm of controversy after revelations that he lied about his background—including falsely claiming he was of Jewish ancestry—came to light, was caught lying about his mother's death by journalist Yashar Ali on Twitter Wednesday.
The tweet by Ali shows screenshots of two separate posts by Santos that clearly contradict one another.
The first post, in July 2021, read, "9/11 claimed my mother's life... so I'm blocking so I don't ever have to read this again."
The second post, in December 2021, read, "December 23rd this year marks 5 years I lost my best friend and mentor. Mom you will live forever in my heart."
This guy has to be an op. My god. pic.twitter.com/QoQjHCaT9U
— Yashar Ali یاشار (@yashar) December 29, 2022
"This guy has to be an op. My god," Ali tweeted.
Santos' campaign website claims that his mother "survived the tragic events on September 11th, but she passed away a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer."
Santos said in a 2021 interview on the radio show "The Voice of Reason with Andy Hooser" that his mother had gotten "caught up in the ash cloud" on September 11 and that she didn't sign up for financial aid because she didn't want to take money from emergency services personnel who had been affected, CNN noted on Friday morning.
Pending investigation into Santos' conduct
A New York prosecutor's office announced that it had opened an investigation into Santos' conduct, as much of his background had been completely fabricated, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Haley Cohen and Reuters contributed to this report.