(CNN) Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah told GOP Rep. George Santos of New York: “You’re not here,” according to a member who witnessed the tense exchange in the House of Representatives Tuesday night.
Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, made the comments as he entered the room for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
After the speech, Romney told CNN that he criticized Santos for standing in the front hallway “trying to shake hands” with the president and senators “given the fact that he’s under an ethics investigation.”
“He should have sat in the back row and kept quiet instead of parading in front of the president and the people coming into the room,” he said, adding that Santos might have responded to what he said but “he didn’t hear .”
Posted by Santos on Twitter after the speech: “Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you are NOT going to be PRESIDENT!”
Santos has faced multiple investigations into his finances and repeated lies about his resume and biography. In November, he flipped a Democratic seat in a redrawn district, helping Republicans capture a narrow majority in the House.
Santos, 34, was caught lying about the schools he attended, his employment history and family background. Federal Election Commission complaints question whether he was the true source of more than $700,000 in loans he said he made to his 2022 campaign.
Federal investigators are looking into his finances, including allegations that Santos took $3,000 from a GoFundMe campaign for a dying dog veteran.
New York is expected to face an investigation from the House Ethics Committee. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has so far not called on Santos to resign, although some of his fellow New York Republicans have called for him to step down. Santos voluntarily left both House committees even though McCarthy and his allies initially gave him the seats.
Romney said he was disappointed that McCarthy did not call on Santos to resign.
“He’s saying that he, you know, he embellished his record. Look, embellishment says you get an A when you get an A-,” the senator said. “Lying says you graduated from college you didn’t attend and he shouldn’t be in Congress.”
“And they will continue the process and hopefully get him fired … But he shouldn’t be there and if he has any shame, he won’t be there.”
On Tuesday, Santos told CNN he was “not worried” about the House ethics probe or about New York constituents calling for him to resign.
This story was updated from an interview with Romney.
CNN’s Ted Barrett, Morgan Rimmer and Ali Zaslav contributed to this report.
