- NY Rep. George Santos claimed to Brazilian media that he was the victim of an attempted murder.
- On the podcast Radio Novela Apresenta, he also said he was mugged in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue.
- Santos said he was robbed of his briefcase, watch, and shoes, but did not provide a police report.
Embattled New York Rep. George Santos told Brazilian media in December that he was the victim of a series of crimes, including an assassination attempt and a mugging on Fifth Avenue.
In a clip uncovered by the “Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC, Santos tells the podcast Radio Novela Apresenta that his home was vandalized in January of 2021 simply because he was a Republican.
“I’m going to a New Year’s Eve party with my husband. We go back to our house, it was vandalized because we were at a Republican Party in Florida in December 2020,” Santos told the hosts, according to the Rachel Maddow Show translation. “So that’s it. I’ve experienced vandalism.”
Santos then makes another claim: Someone tried to take his life.
“We have already suffered an attempt on my life, an assassination attempt, a threatening letter, having to have the police, a police escort standing in front of our house,” Santos says.
Santos did not elaborate on his claim in the clip, according to host Rachel Maddow.
—Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 24, 2023
Later in the interview, Santos says he was a victim of a mugging “in broad daylight” on New York City’s Fifth Avenue in the summer of 2021. Santos said two men robbed him of his briefcase, watch, and shoes after he left his office and was getting into his car.
“They stole your shoes in the middle of Fifth Avenue?” interjected podcast interviewer João Batista Jr., per a translation of the clip by the Rachel Maddow show.
“In the middle of Fifth Avenue,” Santos answered. “And that wasn’t the worst of it. Nobody did anything, nobody did anything. The fear is real. It’s surreal what we live through here.”
Podcast interviewers Batista and Flora Thomson-Deveaux said they later asked Santos for his police report of the mugging, but he failed to respond.
On Friday, Thomson-DeVeaux tweeted that the December 7 interview with Santos was “one of the most infuriating interactions” she could remember in recent years, saying he “spewed unbelievable fake facts” but refused to engage when challenged.
The clip comes as Santos faces growing controversy over apparent falsehoods in his resume, campaign biography, family history, and religious background.
Though Santos admitted and apologized for embellishing his past while campaigning, he’s also accused the “elitist” New York Times of misrepresenting his employment history.
A representative for Santos and the NYPD did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
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