George Santos unleashes vile attack on GOP lawmaker’s son

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Serial liar George Santos unleashed a vile attack on the son of a fellow Republican lawmaker, calling him a “felon” and a “drug dealer” who has been “poisoning people on the streets with meth”.

The revolting diatribe came about after the GOP Rep Steve Womack revealed his disappointment that Mr Santos had survived a vote to expel him from Congress on Wednesday.

“Last night, the House saw its shadow. Unfortunately, this means there will be two more weeks of Santos,” Mr Womack quipped on X, formerly Twitter.

In response, the embattled New York congressman chose to launch a venomous and highly personal attack on Mr Womack’s son James Womack.

“Your son is a felon,” he responded in a post.

“He has been in and out of the prison system for years. He is a drug dealer, poisoning people on the streets with meth and unlawful possession of a gun.

“Instead of being home, taking care of your son, you’re sitting pretty in the swamp.”

He added: “Listen, I have been respectful of my colleagues through this process but I am sick and tired of people with glass houses casting stones at me.”

Mr Santos also shared a news article from last month about James Womack, 37, pleading guilty to federal drugs charges. He is awaiting sentencing.

Hours later, Mr Santos – who is also facing federal criminal charges of fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations – appeared to realise he had gone too far.

In a follow-up post, he walked back his comments and instead claimed he was “praying” for Mr Womack’s family during the difficult period.

“I have the maturity and humility to acknowledge and accept when I’m wrong. Today I had a misguided moment of rage and lashed out against a colleagues [sic] family member after he was critical of me,” he said.

“I’ve always held the standard that our families are off limits and I crossed that line and for that I am embarrassed and deeply sorry for doing so. This apology is the correct thing to do and with that said @rep_stevewomack I am deeply and truly sorry for my actions. I am praying for your family during these difficult times.”

The online outburst comes as Mr Santos continues to fall out of favour with members of his own party, after he was exposed for lying about 9/11 and a whole host of things on his resume and is also charged with laundering campaign funds.

These scandals have led many within the GOP to deem him unfit for office.

On Wednesday, the embattled New York congressman faced an expulsion vote in the House of Representatives, brought to the floor by fellow Republican lawmaker Anthony D’Esposito.

The resolution needed a two-thirds majority to succeed, but fell well short.

Mr Santos celebrated his small victory by sharing a self-aggrandising post on X, crowning himself king.

The post showed a doctored image of the fabulist lawmaker sporting a gold crown with the slogan: “If you come for me, you best not miss.”

“Tonight was a victory for due process not me. This was never about me, and I’ll never let it become about me,” he wrote on the post.

“We all have rights under this great Constitutional Republic and I’ll fight for our right to uphold them till my last dying breath.”

Perhaps realising he had made another taboo, Mr Santos quickly deleted the post and replaced it with the same written statement – minus the meme.

However, it had already been captured and circulated online.