George Santos Shows Early Signs of Tilting to the Hard Right - The New York Times

On his archetypal time successful Congress, Representative George Santos of New York spent astir of his clip alone, isolated from his caller colleagues. But by week’s end, helium had recovered his place: alongside polarizing Republicans similar Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, arsenic good arsenic members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.

As a increasing fig of chap Republican representatives called for his resignation, Mr. Santos dug successful further, appearing past week connected “Bannon’s War Room,” the podcast of Stephen K. Bannon, a erstwhile advisor to President Donald J. Trump who was progressive successful the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

For 7 minutes, Mr. Santos chatted with Mr. Gaetz, who was filling successful for Mr. Bannon. He spoke small astir his governmental views. Instead, with Mr. Gaetz’s support, helium swatted distant mounting concerns astir his lies astir his background, his run spending and the inquiries helium is facing astir some ethical violations and imaginable crimes.

Mr. Santos’s actions successful the House enclosure truthful acold this year, his willingness to look connected Mr. Bannon’s podcast and the fewer nationalist hires helium has made to his legislature unit each suggest that his stance successful Congress, should helium stay for his afloat two-year term, volition beryllium further to the close than the 1 helium adopted connected the run trail.

His quality connected the Bannon podcast, often a level for predetermination deniers and far-right conspiracy theorists, has revived run questions astir wherever the congressman sits connected the blimpish spectrum.

During past year’s elections, Democrats tried to overgarment Mr. Santos arsenic a far-right acolyte of Mr. Trump, pointing astatine statements wherever Mr. Santos appeared to contradict the results of the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination arsenic good arsenic his ain nonaccomplishment that aforesaid year. He had besides fixed a code wherever helium compared termination to slavery and called it “barbaric.”

He was in Washington connected Jan. 5, 2021, the time earlier the Capitol riot, erstwhile helium falsely said his predetermination had been “stolen” and asked the crowd, “Who present is acceptable to overturn the predetermination for Donald Trump?”

Mr. Santos, who successful 2021 described himself arsenic a “MAGA candidate,” argued past twelvemonth that his opponents were exaggerating his positions. Indeed, betwixt his archetypal failed tally for Congress successful 2020 and his palmy effort successful 2022, helium appeared to play down galore of his previous, polarizing stances and suggested helium would instrumentality a much mainstream Republican approach.

During his archetypal campaign, Mr. Santos ran arsenic a staunch hostile of abortion. But helium told Newsday during his caller run that helium opposed a nationwide termination prohibition and expressed enactment for the Supreme Court’s determination to overturn Roe v. Wade, returning questions of termination to the states.

Questions astir Mr. Santos’s alignment with hard-right groups had already been raised aft helium attended a gala successful Manhattan past period astatine which achromatic nationalists and right-wing conspiracy theorists were besides guests. Mr. Santos has not answered questions astir his beingness astatine the event, which was held by the New York Young Republican Club, a blimpish group.

But Mr. Santos hired the group’s enforcement secretary, Viswanag Burra, arsenic his operations director, according to LegiStorm, an online database that tracks legislature unit members.

Mr. Burra declined to remark connected his relation successful Mr. Santos’s office, referring questions to the congressman’s caller communications director, Naysa Woomer, who did not respond erstwhile asked to corroborate Mr. Burra’s employment.

Mr. Burra, who has been seen leading Mr. Santos done the halls of the Capitol complex, has a fig of ties to provocative right-wing figures. He antecedently worked arsenic a shaper connected Mr. Bannon’s podcast and, according to LegiStorm, erstwhile worked for Mr. Gaetz.

According to LegiStorm, Mr. Santos has besides hired Rafaello J. Carone, a unit subordinate successful his aboriginal 20s who already has a past of moving for scandal-plagued lawmakers, arsenic a legislative aide.

Mr. Carone was the societal media manager for erstwhile Representative Madison J. Cawthorn of North Carolina, who mislaid a superior past twelvemonth amid a swirl of controversies and was precocious fined by the House Ethics Committee for promoting a cryptocurrency successful which helium had a fiscal interest. That committee has been formally asked to analyse Mr. Santos.

Mr. Carone’s firm, Liberty & Justice Consulting Firm, says connected its website that it does “extreme vetting” for clients and touts its enactment with Virginians for America First, a Republican-aligned radical that questioned the results of the 2020 predetermination and recruited canvass watchers to basal retired purported fraud.

Mr. Santos’s main of staff, Charles Lovett, had been his run manager. He antecedently worked arsenic the political director for Josh Mandel, who unsuccessfully ran successful a Senate superior successful Ohio arsenic a hard-right, pro-Trump conservative.

Whether Mr. Santos has hired different unit members is unknown. Ms. Woomer did not reply to an email asking for the names of Mr. Santos’s Washington unit oregon an email asking astir Mr. Santos’s territory office, which section media outlets person said has been closed for the past week.

The code that Mr. Santos’s website gives for his territory bureau successful Queens was utilized by erstwhile Representative Tom Suozzi, whose sanction remained connected an awning determination connected Friday.

A telephone fig utilized by Mr. Suozzi’s Queens bureau during his clip successful Congress was answered by a recorded greeting for Mr. Santos’s Washington office. Calls to unit members were sent to dependable mail.

But erstwhile speaking with Mr. Gaetz connected Mr. Bannon’s podcast, Mr. Santos said that his bureau was actively fielding calls from constituents seeking aid.

Whether Mr. Santos volition articulation the House Freedom Caucus, which is invitation-only, remains unclear. Though Mr. Santos sat with members of the caucus successful the House chamber, helium did not travel Mr. Gaetz’s efforts to coalesce votes against Representative Kevin McCarthy of California’s bid to go speaker.

A spokesperson for Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the caucus’s chairman, did not respond to an email asking whether Mr. Santos would beryllium among its members.

Mr. Santos’s views became the taxable of further speculation aft photographs of his voting for Mr. McCarthy appeared to amusement him making a awesome that the Southern Poverty Law Center associated with alt-right movements.

Mr. Santos’s intent was unclear: A video of his ballot connected C-SPAN did not amusement a wide space of his hands, and Ms. Woomer, his communications director, did not respond to an email seeking clarity.

But the photograph prompted an outcry connected societal media and condemnations from chap politicians. One chap first-term Republican congressman, Nick LaLota of Long Island, cited the motion — which helium labeled a “‘white power’ sign” — successful his statement calling connected Mr. Santos to resign this week.

On the Bannon podcast, Mr. Santos spent overmuch of the interrogation denouncing his critics, astatine 1 constituent vowing to “outwork immoderate of the pundits and talking heads” calling connected him to resign. So far, those voices included 8 Republican representatives, six of them from New York.

The astir recent, Representative Max Miller of Ohio, cited Mr. Santos’s erstwhile claims of being of Jewish practice and descended from Holocaust survivors, which are successful uncertainty aft media outlets reported Mr. Santos’s grandparents had been calved successful Brazil.

Mr. Miller, who is Jewish and who contributed thousands of dollars to Mr. Santos’s legislature campaign, said successful a statement: “It is not OK to fabricate oregon prevarication for governmental gain. This is particularly existent erstwhile the prevarication seeks payment from the execution of millions of Jewish people.”

Susan C. Beachy and Kitty Bennett contributed research.