An embattled US congressman didn’t challenge the accuracy of a recently surfaced photo that apparently shows him in drag, though he disputed claims that he was a “drag queen in Brazil.”
“No, I was not a drag queen in Brazil, guys,” George Santos, a Republican from New York told reporters at LaGuardia Airport, marking his first public response to reports that surfaced earlier this week.
“I was young and I had fun at a festival.
“Sue me for having a life.”
The congressman – an out gay man – was identified by a longtime Brazilian drag performer who posted a picture of herself with another person in drag who she alleged was Santos at a Rio de Janeiro-area parade in 2008.
Santos had previously denied on Twitter that he “performed as a drag Queen.”
He tweeted Thursday that “the most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or ‘performed’ as a drag Queen is categorically false.”
On Saturday, Santos wholly ignored multiple questions regarding his mother’s location on September 11, instead training his ire on the press.
“I have zero takes for you guys right now,” Santos said, adding that he has engaged with “plenty” of constituents and was on his way back to his district from Washington, DC, where he attended a meeting Friday night.
“My take for you guys right now is that I’m focused on serving the American people and I’m super excited,”
He declined to say with whom he met, saying that was “classified.”
Immigration records have shown she was not in the US at the time of the terror attacks, though he had claimed she was in the South Tower.
He declined to comment on his debated committee assignments and also ignored a question on whether he had spoken with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
CNN reported this week that Santos was tapped to sit on two low-level House committees: the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
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Santos had privately lobbied GOP leaders to serve on two more high-profile committees, one overseeing the financial sector and another on foreign policy.
But top Republicans rejected that pitch as some chairmen balked at adding him to their panels.