‘Is Something Wrong With Him?’ Jake Tapper Questions George Santos’ Former Comms Director

A puzzled Jake Tapper tried to get to the bottom of the mystery that is former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

The expelled congressman was back in the news for showing up at Thursday night’s State of the Union address. He originally sat next to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) but ended up standing in the back of the House chamber because the seats were reserved for “current members.”

Santos also announced on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday that he plans to run for Congress again, even though he was expelled in December for ethics concerns and lying about his credentials. Santos has also been charged with 23 fraud-related federal counts. After being kicked out of Congress, Santos cashed in on his infamy and began making videos on the Cameo website.

All of this led to Tapper asking Santos’ former communications director Naysa Woomer, “Is something wrong with him? And if so, what is it?”

“I want to say yes, a little bit, because it sounds like someone who just, he went from being a congressman to a celebrity,” Woomer said. “And I think, just the media attention that came around him during his entire time in Congress, it just, I think it increased his ego…I mean, it’s a joke. And one of my biggest questions is, you know, do we need to go back, and I think Congressman Ritchie Torres has already begun filing legislation that would revoke his floor privileges.”

Tapper explained:

Yeah, just for those confused about why he was even allowed on the floor of the House last night, he has lifelong floor privileges, despite being expelled. And as you know, Ritchie Torres, a different congressman from New York, he’s a Democrat, and this is according to Punchbowl, quote, “is introducing a new rule, the George Rule.” George stands for ‘Getting Expelled Officially Revokes Guaranteed Entry’ rule. That’s pretty clever, actually. That would revoke House floor privileges for expelled members of the House of Representatives.

“You think that that’s a good rule?” Tapper asked Woomer.

“I think it is a good rule. I mean, let’s just remember too, only, I think he’s the sixth member of Congress who had been expelled —”

“In the history,” Tapper completed her sentence.

Watch the clip above via CNN.