Queens GOP heavyweight calls on Santos to step down
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Republican City Councilmember Joann Ariola publicly called on Rep. George Santos to resign last week. Photo by Emil Cohen/NYCC Media Unit
By Jacob Kaye
George Santos, the freshman congressman representing Nassau County and parts of Northeastern Queens, has few friends these days. Now, his circle is only getting smaller.
Last week, Republican City Councilmember Joann Ariola, who represents parts of Woodhaven, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Richmond Hill and the western half of the Rockaway peninsula, publicly called on Santos to step down.
“George Santos has become a distraction at the city, state and federal level,” Ariola said in a statement to the Eagle. “For the good of everybody, he should resign so that we can continue to move forward and continue working to make New York a great place to live for all.”
Santos, who was elected to office in November 2022, is accused of lying about his employment history, his family’s lineage, his education, his wealth, his mother’s death, his religion and more while on the campaign trail and in the years before he ran for office.
He has faced calls to resign from the Nassau County’s GOP, a number of colleagues in the House, his constituents and countless Democratic officials throughout the country.
Ariola, who formerly served as the head of the Queens County Republican Party, said that though she publicly called on Santos to resign for the first time last week, it wasn’t the first time she’s voiced her discomfort with his presence in Washington, D.C.
The councilmember said that she told a reporter with the Washington Post that she did not support Santos. However, her views were not printed in the resulting story, she said.
“Making sure that things are running smoothly in my district and advocating for our residents takes up most of my time, and that is my main priority,” Ariola said. “I gave a statement calling on Santos to resign when I was asked about it, and that statement wasn’t printed.”
“While it is certainly an important issue, my focus is on District 32 – I’m not going to go out of my way to track down reporters to discuss a Congressman who represents Nassau Country and a sliver of Northern Queens when we have so many other things I would rather discuss right here at home,” Ariola added.
Queens’ only other Republican City Councilmember, Vickie Paladino, whose district overlaps with Santos’, has refrained from calling Santos to resign, but has expressed disappointment in his fraudulent pitch to voters.
Santos, who has also gone by the name Anthony Devolder, was sworn into office in January after beating out Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the November 2022 general election for New York’s Third Congressional District. He replaced former Rep. Tom Suozzi, who declined to run for the seat after making a failed bid for the governor’s office.
About a month after his election, the New York Times published an investigative story exploring the then-congressman-elect’s fraudulent resume.
His troubles have only worsened in the weeks since, with more and more fibs and fabrications coming to light on a near daily basis.
Most recently, it was reported that a story he told of his mother surviving the terror attacks on 9/11 was made up. His mother wasn’t even in the U.S. at the time of the attacks.
It was also recently reported that Santos scammed a veteran with a fatally ill dog out of $3,000 through the elected official’s illegitimate charity, Friends of Pets United, Patch reported.
