George Santos drew laughter from seasoned broadcaster Dana Bash with a wild comparison between his own situation and that of Jesus Christ.
The former New York congressman appeared on CNN’s State of the Union to defend Donald Trump for pardoning him on Friday, just three months into his seven-year sentence for identity theft and fraud.
“President Biden pardoned his son after he said he wouldn’t. I didn’t see outrage, I mean some of your colleagues—” Santos said Sunday.
George Santos has been out of prison for less than 48 hours, but has already stunned one CNN host into silence. Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS
“There was some outrage,” Bash interrupted as she briefly giggled at the statement.
Santos insisted that Biden “lied” about his actions but then shocked Bash with a more hypothetical comparison.
“So I’m not going to debate this but I’m going to say, look, there‘s always going to be critics. People are going to like me, people are going to hate me. It doesn’t matter whoever gets clemency in the future, whoever that person might be,” he said.
Santos continued: “I’m pretty confident if President Trump had pardoned Jesus Christ off the cross, he would have had critics. So that’s just a reality of our country.”
Dana Bash couldn’t holt back laughter as Santos compared criticism of his commutation with a hypothetical allegory about Jesus. CNN
During his appearance, Santos thanked Trump, and suggested that he’d spent his jail time in deep penance.
“I‘m looking at this very simply, Dana. I‘m going to look to the future,” he said.
Both Trump and Santos are facing censure-much from within the GOP-for the former congressman’s sudden pardoning Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The Republican added: “I‘ve learned a great deal—and a very large slice of humble pie, if not the entire pie, for the experience I had at FCI Fairton under the care of Warden Kelly.”
As a final note, Bash asked Santos if he had any words for his former GOP colleagues, many of whom have been criticizing his fast freedom.
Among a string of apologies to his party and those he represented, the controversial figure summarized: “I understand I was in a chaotic ball of flame two years ago. I was my own worst enemy.”
