Disgraced Rep. George Santos Clashes With CNN Host Over Trump Commuting Jail Sentence

Former Congressman George Santos pushed back sharply during a CNN interview Sunday after being asked whether President Donald Trump showed him favoritism by commuting his prison sentence, practically pardoning the disgraced GOP representative and pathologial fraudster and liar. Santos dismissed the criticism as politically driven, accusing his detractors of hypocrisy and pointing to President Joe Biden’s controversial pardons of his family members before leaving office.

Trump announced the commutation last week, praising Santos for his loyalty to the Republican Party, saying he would “ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN,” while acknowledging he was “somewhat of a rogue.” The move drew sharp rebukes from opponents who claimed the decision was an overt display of partisan bias.

CNN host Dana Bash pressed Santos on the criticism, telling him, “There are a lot of people who are really unhappy about your commutation because they see it as President Trump giving favorable treatment to you because you’re a loyal ally of his.”

Santos fired back forcefully, saying, “You know what? I say this, and I hate that we have to go down this road. And then there’s a lot of people who were upset with President Biden who pardoned his entire family before he left office in an unprecedented move. So pardon me if I’m not paying too much attention to the pearl-clutching of the outrage of my critics and of the people, predominantly on the left, who are going to go out there and try to make a big deal out of something like this.”

Santos had been sentenced to 87 months in jail in April for fraud and falsifying records.