Rep. George Santos says he’s the new Rosa Parks — because he wouldn’t go sit in the back of Congress.
The controversial Long Island Republican absurdly compared himself to the civil rights icon, who famously challenged segregation by refusing to move to the back of a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956.
“Guess what: Rosa Parks didn’t sit in the back, and neither am I gonna sit in the back,” Santos, 34, told Mike Crispi Unafraid, a rightwing podcast.
The controversial Long Island Republican was discussing his face-off with Sen. Mitt Romney in February ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address.
The GOP elder statesman gave Santos a tongue-lashing and told him he should sit in the back to avoid embarrassing himself.
“The man goes to the State of the Union of the United States … and tells me, a Latino gay man, that I shouldn’t sit in the front, that I should be in the back,” Santos said in the livestreamed interview.
‘rosa parks didn’t sit in the back and neither am i’
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 10, 2023
-george santos, who tells me he was actually on the bus that daypic.twitter.com/i4r5IP9hfk
Santos said he is proud that he stood up to Romney, a moderate whom the MAGA lawmaker derides as a Republican in name only.
“They come for me, I go right back for them … So, you know, it’s not gonna stay that way any more. I’m gonna call them out,” Santos said. “You want to call me a liar? I’ll call you a sellout.”
Santos, 34, who says he plans to run for reelection in a Democratic-leaning district in 2024, is facing more than just verbal jabs from fellow lawmakers.
He was charged in a federal indictment with several fraud counts and others related to campaign finance discrepancies.
Santos won his seat in an upset as the GOP swept to victories across New York.
He was almost instantly uncovered as a serial liar about virtually his entire background, including fake claims of college degrees, a Wall Street pedigree and even Jewish heritage.
Some Republicans want Santos to resign but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has thrown him a lifeline by insisting on a drawn-out ethics probe. McCarthy can ill afford to lose even one vote as he struggles to keep his fractious caucus in line with a slim majority.
Democrats are happy to use Santos as a punching bag and have made him the poster boy for a campaign to roll back GOP gains across the New York suburbs and retake the House of Representatives.
Neither Santos nor Romney immediately responded to requests for comment.
