Things got tense between Rep. George Santos and Sen. Mitt Romney at President Joe Biden‘s State of the Union address this week. Santos, 34, and fellow Republican, Romney, 75, appeared to exchange a few words at the event after Santos situated himself in a prominent location for the televised address.
As reported by ABC News, Romney allegedly told the lawmaker (who is known to embellish and fabricate elements of his own life story and is currently facing several investigations), “You don’t belong here.” Santos claimed that he fired back, and called Romney the “A” word.
Sen. Mitt Romney on tense exchange with Rep. George Santos ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address: “He’s a sick puppy….He shouldn’t be in Congress. They’re going to go through the process, and hopefully get him out.” https://t.co/XVJrqV14Lu pic.twitter.com/3ghta6g9pE
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 9, 2023
What We Know About Romney & Santos’ Heated Interaction
Romney, as the outlet notes, is among the highest ranking Republicans to call out Santos for his frequent lies. (Santos’ constituents continue to do so, as well)
“I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator in the United States,” Romney said. “Given the fact that he’s under an ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room.”
‘It wasn’t very Mormon of him’ — Rep. George Santos commented on the interaction he had with Sen. Mitt Romney during the State of the Union address, in which Romney told Santos he didn’t belong there pic.twitter.com/PphdVhBArJ
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 9, 2023
One hour after the address began, Santos tweeted, “Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!” proving that tension between the two continues to build.
Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT! https://t.co/ANxiQPxAua
— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) February 8, 2023
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met privately with the disgraced congressman last week as a plethora of potential investigations centered around him continue to unravel on and off Capitol Hill. Santos then announced that he would step aside from his committee assignments “ahead of an expected House Ethics Committee probe,” as ABC News notes.
This week, McCarthy said that the circumstances with Santos will work their way through the House Ethics Committee. Fellow New York Republicans have called for Santos to resign from Congress, and he even faces other investigations apart from Congress.
When Romney Approached Santos
According to ABC News, other Republicans at the State of the Union address heard the exchange between Romney and Santos, and one Republican lawmaker who was told about it, the site writes, said there was “widespread displeasure that Santos had situated himself in such a prominent spot.” The lawmaker “requested anonymity to discuss what others said about the subject.”
The center aisle position essentially gave Santos the chance to seize the spotlight by greeting President Biden and other prominent officials while they entered the House chamber and walked down the aisle. Romney apparently spotted Santos and scolded him as senators entered the House in a line.
