Some Seinfeld fans have been comparing Republican Congress Member-elect George Santos’ admitted whoppers to those that came from the mouth of the sitcom’s beloved pathological liar, George Costanza.
While Costanza (portrayed by Jason Alexander) lied to either land a job or a date, Santos admitted in a Monday media blitz to fabricating his own résumé on the campaign trail, which helped him win New York’s 3rd Congressional District seat covering northeast Queens and northern Nassau County.
Despite his admissions and the public shaming that followed the New York Times exposé about him, Santos rebuffed calls for his resignation, and indicated he would take the seat in Congress on Jan. 3 — claiming that his embellishments were not that big of a deal.
But critics see this episode as life imitating art, which leads us to the other George — Costanza, that is, the fictional Queens resident allegedly “driven out of Bayside” because of his family’s celebration of Festivus, who concocted other schemes such as pretending to be an architect or a marine biologist, or a prospective hire by the nonexistent latex importer Vandelay Industries.
Even the excuses Santos gave during his media blitz in defense of himself have sounded oddly Costanza-esque (or is it Costanzian?).
Below are some quotes from both past Seinfeld episodes and from one of many Santos’ interviews Monday, and before reading the answers, try to figure out which George said it:
1.) “I am not a criminal. Not here, not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world have I ever committed any crimes.”
2.) “Was that wrong? Should I have not done that? I tell you I gotta plead ignorance.”
3.) “I don’t think I’ve ever been to an appointment in my life where I wanted the other guy to show up.”
4.) “I’m not going to make excuses for this, but a lot of people overstate in their resumes, or twist a little bit. … I’m not saying I’m not guilty of that.”
5.) “I never claimed to be Jewish. … Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”
6.) “It’s not a lie if you believe it.”
Answers
1.) That wasn’t Costanza’s defense of his fact-finding mission to communist Cuba in the search of the Yankees’ next star. That was Santos’ statement Monday with regard to charges that he committed financial crimes in Brazil, or that he perpetrated fraud in embellishing his background to get elected. Nonetheless, state Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation into Santos, and Congress Member-elect Dan Goldman called for federal prosecutors to do the same.
2.) Santos could have said that after getting caught lying about his past, but this statement was in fact all Costanza — after he admitted to his boss at Pendant Publishing that he had caroused with the office cleaner. The guilty plea didn’t work, and Costanza was summarily fired.
3.) Which George said this? That would be Costanza, who was not shy about his insecurity at job interviews. Santos did show up for his appointed debates on the campaign trail against his Democratic rival, Robert Zimmerman, where he repeatedly lied to both voters and Zimmerman about his past.
4.) On Monday, Santos offered this statement in his own defense while continuing to maintain his intent to take in January the Congressional seat he was elected to in November.
5.) Costanza once converted to another religion in order to continue seeing his then-girlfriend. Santos lied to voters about his Jewish background, including that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Despite being caught in the shameful lies, Santos claims his statement was taken out of context.
6.) Any Seinfeld fan knows this quote comes straight from mouth of Costanza, who once inferred to his pal Jerry that he lied at a level of mastery that he couldn’t possibly teach to anyone else: “It’s like saying to Pavarotti, ‘Teach me to sing like you.'” Some voters undoubtedly wonder how truthful Santos will be to them during the next two years in Congress, should he be seated in office next month.
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