CNN’s Anderson Cooper broke down Rep. George Santos was fired after the New York Republican Party announced it would run for re-election in 2024.
“Certainly, he doesn’t have the support of his party on Capitol Hill, or the support of the party leaders in his district, who are calling for him to resign, or the support of most of his constituents, who in the last poll said they want to resign,” Cooper said on “Anderson Cooper 360 Monday, according to a clip obtained by Mediaite.
“And yes, he’s facing multiple federal and local investigations into his finances after he admitted to lying about everything from his college degree to his workplace and even his inheritance,” he said. “But if you have no shame, none of that matters. Today, he announced that he will run for re-election.
CNN senior data analyst Harry Enten said he has reviewed Santos’ poll numbers and has good news and bad news.
“The good news is: I went back through history and found some politicians with the right rating – about seven or eight percent,” said Enten. “The bad news is: these politicians were either criminals at the time or later criminals.”
Enten noted that Santos has the same approval ratings as those received in 2008 by then-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D), who was indicted and imprisoned for eight years on public corruption charges, and in 2005 by Ohio Governor Bob Bob. Taft (R), who was convicted of violating state ethics laws.
Santos said in a statement Monday that he was “proud” to announce his bid for another two-year term. The statement said Santos has “proved to be a diligent legislator and an outspoken critic of the Washington Establishment” in his first 100 days in office.
Santos has spent his first month in office battling controversy and bipartisan calls for his resignation after a bombshell report revealed he had manipulated various aspects of his work, education and personal background to get elected.
He faces local, federal and international investigations into his wrongdoing, as well as an investigation into allegations of campaign finance violations. He resigned from his House committee duties a few weeks after taking office.