Keep George Santos in Congress, says New York Republican councilor; calls his GOP vote “we can count on”

Serial liar Rep. George Santos received a reluctant nod from controversial city council member Vicki Paladino, who said she resisted Santos’s call to step down because it would pave the way for a Democrat to replace him.

“If there is a snap election – I’ll tell you this right now – the chances of a Republican taking this seat are zero. It’s nuclear. This is zero. He fried the seat,” Palladino said to one of the first January Meeting of the Queens Village Republican Club.

“I say let him keep his seat for the next two years and let the people decide,” she said. “Because if it comes to a snap election, we will have Robert Zimmerman, who is as far left as you want, and we will lose a valuable seat.”

Zimmerman, a Democrat, lost last year’s general election over the Long Island Queens congressional seat currently held by Santos.

Rep. George Santos

“Despite [Santos] will be deprived of all his committees, as he should be, he will be useless, ”Paladino said at a meeting on January 5th. “But at least he will be a voice, a voice that I think we can count on.”

Paladino made the remark before House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Santos two committee assignments, on small business and on science, space and technology.

During her speech, Paladino repeatedly referred to Santos as “Anthony”. Recent news reports state that Santos went by the name Anthony Devolder, an alias that has been linked to several shady deals, including one in which Santos was allegedly involved in a military vet scam with money raised to treat his sick service dog.

“His name is George Anthony Devolder Santos, I was told back in 2018. Therefore, once we know who this person really is, let’s draw conclusions for that moment, ”said Paladino.

“Now they are asking me to say that he should retire,” Paladino said, without specifying who “they” are.

“Well, I can’t tell Anthony to resign unless I tell the president to resign, and we don’t tell other people to resign,” Paladino said.

“The real problem here is that he won because of his message,” she said.

Council Member Vicki Paladino

Paladino, who represents Whitestone, Bayside and Little Neck in Queens, suggested that Santos’ lies were symptomatic of a “sickness”.

“I knew Anthony, and I will say this: unfortunately, very, very sad – because it breaks my heart that someone is so sick to get away with it – this is a disease – so I wish him all the best, I I wish everything is fine with us,” said Palladino.

“The Anthony I know – I think was going to do for us what he said he was going to do,” she added.

Paladino did not immediately respond to messages left by the Daily News.

Later, in her speech at a GOP caucus in Queens, she referred to Santos’ documented history of lies and shady dealings.

His lies include claims that he is Jewish; that he attended Baruch College and Horace Mann School; that his animal rescue group, Friends of Pets United, was a non-profit; that his grandmother was a Holocaust survivor and that he worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Critics of Paladino, a lightning rod for controversy since joining the city council last year, were quick to pounce on her remarks about Santos.

“To start with, she’s crazy,” said Tony Avella, a former Democratic state senator who plans to challenge Paladino for a seat on the Council this year.

“Now she’s throwing a party around the neighborhood. She still supports him,” Avella said. “She must definitely demand his resignation. And she refuses to call for his resignation, which I find shameful.”

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