George Santos pulls the plug on promised "comeback" to Congress
Washington DC - Former Representative George Santos has withdrawn his bid for New York's 1st Congressional District, which he promised would be his big "comeback" to politics.
On Tuesday, Santos made the announcement in an X post, explaining that he didn't want to be the reason Democrats regain a majority in the House of Representatives.
"It is clear that with the rise of antisemitism in our country, we cannot afford to hand the house to Dems as they have a very large issue with antisemitism in their ranks," Santos wrote.
"Staying in this race all but guarantees a victory for the Dems in the race," he added.
Santos vowed to "continue to participate in the public policy discussion" and even teased the possibility of running again next year.
He also noted that he didn't want his run to be "portrayed as reprisal" against his primary challenger and former colleague Nick Lalota, who also helped lead the effort that cost him his job on Capitol Hill.
Was George Santos ever serious about running for Congress again?
During his brief time in politics, Santos was caught lying on countless occasions and inadvertently built a comical reputation for it.
But things quickly became serious for him last year when he was indicted on felony charges, including fraud and theft, and an ethics report "unanimously concluded" that he knowingly filed false campaign financial reports and engaged in fraudulent conduct while in office.
Lalota, along with a handful of other House Republicans, then led an effort that led to Santos being voted out of Congress.
So when Santos announced last month that he was running to return to Congress, this time for New York's 1st District to unseat Lalota, many critics found it hard to take him seriously.
He faced further criticism last week when financial filings revealed that his campaign reported it raised $0 throughout the first quarter of the year.
In response to Santos dropping out of the race, Lalota joked that his challenger may have done so as part of a plea deal for his legal issues.
Santos clapped back with an angry tirade, calling LaLota a "feckless RINO" and ironically accusing him of "spreading misinformation."
Cover photo: IMAGO / UPI Photo