Champion Prevaricator

Congressman-elect George Santos, a Republican from New York, has a problem, or rather several problems. He's currently being investigated for what amounts to a financial miracle, having become a millionaire virtually overnight.

He's also, it appears, a pathological liar having lied about almost everything of importance in his background. You can read the details here.

His political opponents are enjoying the scandal, of course, but it is amusing to read tweets from very liberal people like Sam Stein, who tweeted on December 22: "Is there any precedent at all to this George Santos situation? Has Congress ever had someone with so many remarkable biographical holes?"

Now this question is amusing because although Stein thinks that Santos' prodigious talent for lying is unprecedented, it's clearly not. The answer to his question is, why, yes, there is precedent. Tom Elliot on his Twitter page lists about thirty biographical lies told by a single politician over the course of his career.

The politician who has amassed this astounding record of mendacity is, of course, the current President of the United States.

Jim Geraghty mentions just seven of the lies Elliot documents in his Morning Jolt column. He writes: A few days ago, Tom Elliott listed all of the tall tales, sketchy claims, likely hallucinations, and outright lies offered by Joe Biden over the years. Among the highlights were Biden’s claims that:

• he was arrested during a civil rights march;
• he spent part of a summer working as a tractor-trailer driver;
• he was arrested while trying to meet Nelson Mandela;
• his son, Beau, was killed in Iraq (Beau Biden passed away after battling brain cancer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.);
• he graduated “top of his class” in college (he in fact graduated “near the bottom”);
• he hit a 368’ home run in one of the congressional baseball games;
• his first job offer was from an Idaho timber company.

Geraghty provides links to all of these confabulations at his column, and you can find more at the link to Elliot's Twitter page. Reading Elliot's list and comparing it to Santos' record, it's really hard to pick out a champion prevaricator between the two.

Anyway, most politicians lie, of course, but lying on the scale Santos did should disqualify him from serving in a position of public trust. But if that principle applies to Santos, if lying about one's biography is grounds for removal from office, it should also apply to everyone in public office, and especially to the President of the United States.