George Santos, the recently expelled former Congressman who represented New York’s third congressional district, has stated that he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of running for office again, potentially as an independent candidate.
In a recent interview with Ziwe host Ziwe Fumudoh, Santos, who is facing a 23-count federal indictment, answered various questions about allegations against him, his past experiences in Congress, and his future plans, including the possibility of running for office again.
While Santos did not explicitly confirm that he intends to run again, he also didn’t deny it. When asked about his choice of party affiliation for a potential future run, Santos stated that he would stick with the Republican Party “for now.” However, he expressed an openness to running as an independent, which he believes is something America needs more of.
When Fumodoh compared Santos to Green Party presidential hopeful Jill Stein following his statement, particularly as an example of an independent thinker, Santos swiftly dismissed the comparison, saying that Stein was a “Russian asset.”
A transcription of the conversation can be read below:
Ziwe: Will you be running for office again?
Santos: Not now, but in the future, I’m not ruling it out.
Ziwe: Wow. As a Republican?
Santos: As of now, yes.
Ziwe: Okay, “as of now,” but there could be a day you pivot —
Santos: — to an independent, because I think the country needs more independent thinkers now.
Ziwe: Like Jill Stein?
Santos: No. That’s a Russian asset according to Hillary Clinton, and I believe Hillary on that one.
Notably, the most recent member of Congress to be expelled before Santos, James Traficant of Ohio, also attempted a return to office as an independent. Traficant, a Democratic Congressman who was convicted on ten counts, including bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion, made two independent bids for his old seat, first in 2002 and again in 2010, but he lost both campaigns. In 2002, he earned 15.9% of the vote in a three-way race, and in 2010, he received 16.3% in another three-way race.
Readers of Independent Political Report can access the full Ziew interview with George Santos below:
Any truth to the widespread rumor that Santos will head up a presidential ticket with Thomas Jones from Detroit, Michigan for VP?
How does Santos plan on getting ballot access?
The Libertarian Party could consider him, particularly in light of their enthusiastic embrace of the Q Anon Shaman. Maybe together, the Shaman and Santos could be their perfect presidential ticket, although Santos was born in Brazil, but then people say Obama was born in Kenya and his birth certificate was fake,McCain was born in Panama etc,so who knows .
I don’t know if he would be a good fit for the new leadership of libertarians since they love Russian assets (if not Russian assets themselves) and he says he doesn’t. He might have to rethink his position on Russia to qualify for their consideration .