George Santos (R), who won a seat to become a U.S. representative in New York in November’s midterm election, admitted that he embellished his resume while on the campaign trail.
He also said that he still intends to serve his two-year term.
“I am not a criminal,” Santos told the New York Post on Monday. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
Santos claimed that he attended Baruch College in New York and graduated with a degree, but the school was unable to verify that statement.
“I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning. I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume,” Santos acknowledged in the interview. “I own up to that.”
The representative-elect also said that he was once employed by Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but neither of those employments could be confirmed.
He clarified that he had never worked for the companies, but rather did business with them during his time as the vice president of investment company Link Bridge, chalking up the misunderstanding to a “poor choice of words.”
Santos went on to apologize for allowing the lies to circulate for so long, telling the Post, “We all do stupid things in life.”
Santos’ win came in a newly drawn third district covering Long Island and some parts of Queens. He previously ran in 2020, losing to Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, but defeated Democratic candidate Robert Zimmerman in November.
