An American congressman-elect has been urged to step down after it emerged he was dishonest about his Jewish heritage.
Washington’s Republican Jewish Coalition, a group that aids Jewish Republican members, said they were “very disappointed” with Congressman-elect George Santos after he said he had lied about his grandparents fleeing Nazi Germany.
“He deceived us and misrepresented his heritage,” the group said in a statement, adding:
“In public comments and to us personally he previously claimed to be Jewish. He has begun his tenure in Congress on a very wrong note. He will not be welcome at any future RJC event.”
Mr Santos has apologised after a New York Times investigation highlighted errors in his résumé that suggested dishonesty.
Mr Santos, who represents New York's 3rd congressional district, told the New York Post on Monday that he had lied about parts of his professional and personal background ahead of November’s midterm elections in the US.
The politician told the newspaper he had not “directly” worked for Goldman Sachs or Citigroup and admitted to having not graduated from Baruch College or “ any institution of higher learning”.
The 34-year-old also conceded to having exaggerated his Jewish heritage, having previously stated that his mother was Jewish and that her parents had fled Europe during the Second World War.
He said he is “clearly Catholic” and that his grandmother had recounted converting to Catholicism after growing up Jewish.
In previous public remarks, Mr Santos described himself as “half Jewish” and a “Latino Jew”.
In a campaign paper obtained by the American-Jewish magazine Forward, Mr Santos had previously said he was “a proud American Jew”.
However in his remarks this week he denied ever claiming to be Jewish and said he had only described himself as “Jew-ish”.
Two of Mr Santos’ fellow incoming GOP House members elected to New York districts condemned him this week.
Congressman-elect Nick LaLota urged a full House Ethics Committee probe into Mr Santos’ conduct. And fellow member-elect Anthony D’Esposito claimed Long Island voters had been “deeply hurt and rightly offended” by Santos’ actions, saying his apparent deceit regarding his family’s links to the Holocaust being "particularly hurtful”.
Several Democrats have called on Mr Santos to resign his seat in the wake of the scandal.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who has not yet responded to the controversy, previously said Mr Santos’ victory in November’s vote had brought the Republican Jewish caucus to its highest number in over 24 years.
On Monday California congressman Ted Lieu called for Mr McCarthy to call a vote that would force Mr Santos to step down or be expelled from the House, writing: "GOP Congressman-elect George Santos, who has now admitted his whopping lies, should resign.”
