Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., who has received bipartisan backlash for his many tall tales, took to Twitter on Wednesday to attack New York City Mayor Eric Adams, seemingly accusing Adams of wrongdoing for the sale of over $200 million in COVID-19 supplies his administration auctioned off for $500,000.
“Care to explain what’s going on here?” Santos posted on Twitter.
Santos tagged Adams in the tweet that included a report from the non-profit online news publication The City. Santos’ comment appeared to suggest that Adams participated in government waste.
The report, which circulated Thursday through right-leaning media, detailed how the Adams administration has systematically auctioned off supplies, including once-treasured ventilators, to the highest bidder. Often, the supplies have been sold for pennies on the dollar.
The report also noted that COVID supplies that hadn’t been auctioned were donated to Ukraine, Ghana, Haiti, South Africa and non-profit organizations. Some of the auctioned items had no bidders and some of the auctioned items were set to expire.
The prodding by Santos is not unusual, as he’s known to antagonize Democrats and political rivals on Twitter. However, he has mostly refrained from attacking city officials like Adams, a Democrat.
Adams was not among the first elected officials to call on Santos to resign in the wake of his resume embellishments.
“I believe personally that he should leave,” Adams told CBS 2 News in January. “I think he should resign. What you see is something that is unimaginable, and I think it only gets in the way of what needs to be done in Congress this year.”
Santos has come under fire since a New York Times investigation on Dec. 19 revealed he fabricated his education, employment, and family history. More allegations of fabrications surfaced in the ensuing weeks after the Times report.
Santos’ jab at Adams was widely and predictably ridiculed on Twitter, as many users took aim at the brashness of the disgraced congressman to attack another politician.
Maxwell Young, the communications director for Adams, was among a crowd of users to fire back at Santos, calling on him to answer questions surrounding his growing list of false statements.
“Hey @Santos4Congress care to explain where you worked, why you lied about being on the Volleyball team, who funded your campaign, why you faked a dog charity and bounced checks trying to buy puppies, and where you got the nerve to lie to the New Yorkers who elected you?” Young posted on Twitter.
Hey @Santos4Congress care to explain where you worked, why you lied about being on the Volleyball team, who funded your campaign, why you faked a dog charity and bounced checks trying to buy puppies, and where you got the nerve to lie to the New Yorkers who elected you? https://t.co/6vqvk2cUu5
— Maxwell Young (@maxwellcyoung) February 22, 2023
Adams, who refrains from Twitter spats, has yet to personally respond to Santos’ attack.
Santos attacked Adams on Adams’ personal Twitter account, which has under 100,000 followers. Adams’ official mayoral account has 1.5 million followers.
Adams began his term as mayor in January 2022.
