George Santos speaks to reporters in Washington in May.J. Scott Applewhite/AP
After disgraced Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress on Friday for alleged ethics violations, including spending donor money on Botox treatments, the writers of Saturday Night Live wasted no time roasting him.
The show led off with a news conference by Santos, played by Bowen Yang, on the steps of the US Capitol. “I’m being assaulted,” Yang said, in a nod to the actual New York congressman’s claim this week that he was being “bullied” by his colleagues in the House. “But what else is new?” Yang added. “America hates to see a Latina queen winning. Since the day I was elected, it’s been a witch hunt, but if I’m guilty of anything it’s for loving too much, slash fraud.”
Recently, a damning House Ethics Committee report accused Santos of spending campaign funds on Botox, OnlyFans, a skincare spa, and other things that had absolutely nothing to do with his run for Congress. Santos is facing criminal charges for fraud, including allegations of a fake donor scheme first reported by Mother Jones, and for identity theft. Before he was even sworn into Congress in January, he was caught lying about his resume and background.
After leaving Congress, SNL‘s Yang acknowledged, Santos could no longer claim the title of lawmaker. “I’m just regular, old Professor Major General Reverend Astronaut Santos, protector of the realm, princess of Genovia,” Yang quipped. “To hell with Congress! I don’t need them anyway, because my new movie opened this weekend. It’s called Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.”
Even if Santos has not, in fact, directed a film, one is on the way. Deadline reported this weekend that HBO has optioned the rights to journalist Mark Chiusano’s new book about the lying former congressman, and that the film, now in development, will be a “darkly comic” look at Santos, produced by none other than Frank Rich, the executive producer behind Veep and Succession. So while Santos’ escapades in Congress might finally be over, don’t throw out that popcorn.
