Romney later said he told Santos — who admitted to fabricating large parts of his biography and whose campaign finances are under investigation — that he wasn’t there. Santos is under investigation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee and last month resigned from his committee assignments.
“I don’t expect him to be standing there trying to shake the hand of every senator and president of the United States,” Romney said. said the reporters after Biden’s speech Tuesday night, when asked why he confronted Santos.
“Given the fact that [Santos is] Under the ethics investigation, he should sit in the back row and keep quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people entering the room,” added Romney.
Romney said that Santos’ claims that he “beautified” his record are not true.
“Look, embellishing says you got an A when you got an A-minus. Lying says you graduated college without going to school,” Romney said. “And he doesn’t deserve the Congress. And they go through the process and hopefully get him out. But he’s not there and if he’s embarrassed, he’s not there.
Romney told reporters that Santos may have answered him, but he did not hear it on the floor of the House. After the State of the Union was over, Santos criticized Romney on social media.
“Hey @MittRomney just a reminder you can’t be PRESIDENT!” he posted on twitter.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) later defended Santos, describing Romney’s words as “the rudest thing I’ve ever seen one person say to another person.”
Romney, the Republican nominee for president in 2012, was the only Republican to stand and applaud when Biden said unemployment was at a 50-year low Tuesday night, and applauded along with other Democrats. Biden’s speech points.
