NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Republican Rep. George Santos faced backlash on social media when he attempted to strike a chord with the electorate through a post about the legal issues he's entangled in.
The New York congressman wrote, addressing his critics, "They're not after me. They're after you. I'm just in the way."
Earlier this month, he was hit with a superseding indictment, which accused him of identity theft involving family members and misusing donors' credit cards for personal spending, adding to the legal troubles he was already facing.
The new charges against Santos included one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, two counts of falsifying records to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud.
These charges came shortly after Nancy Marks, the treasurer for Santos's campaign, pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy, implicating Santos in a scheme to falsify campaign finance reports with fake loans and donors.
George Santos' post goes viral for wrong reasons
Santos had posted his pithy words emblazoned on a low angle picture of himself in a crisp suit.
However, the move did not quite work out in his favor. The Community Notes feature on the platform retorted with a hilarious fact-check, writing, "They are in fact after Representative Santos, who is accused of stealing money from his own donors, among other offenses."
The Community Notes appeared to have been removed later, but not before the New York congressman was hit with a barrage of trolling remarks and general mockery.
One humorously responded with their own version of Santos' post, writing, 'They're not after me. They're after you because I stole your identity,'" one quipped.
"Community notes just bodied you," another wrote.
"Thank you for stealing from people in another country, that will keep the heat off of me for sure," someone else added.
"These complications are to be expected when you dabble in identity theft. You're so messy," a comment read.
"Bro, we didn’t break the law, you did. Leave us out of it," another joked.
Additional charges against George Santos and upcoming court appearance
Santos is scheduled to appear in federal court on the additional charges on October 27, and he has previously expressed his intention not to resign from his congressional seat.
Back in May, Santos had been charged with 13 counts related to defrauding his donors, misusing their contributions for personal gain, and making false statements about unemployment benefits.
These charges included wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and false statements. Santos had pleaded not guilty and referred to the investigation as a "witch hunt."
The indictment alleges that Santos was involved in two fraudulent schemes during the 2022 election cycle, in addition to the previous accusations.
He is said to have stolen campaign donors' personal and financial information, repeatedly charging their credit cards without their knowledge, resulting in thousands of unauthorized charges.
One donor had unwittingly provided billing information for campaign contributions, leading to Santos charging at least $44,800 to their credit card.
Conspiracy to deceive and inflate campaign finance reports
Furthermore, Santos is accused of conspiring to deceive the FEC, the Republican Party, and the public by inflating campaign finance reports, which was a charge that his campaign treasurer admitted to.
Santos and Marks falsely reported that family members had made significant contributions to the campaign and claimed Santos had lent substantial amounts of his own money to meet fundraising thresholds for support from a national Republican Party committee.
Santos had faced previous scrutiny for fabricating details about his education, employment history, and heritage, which included falsely claiming to be Jewish.
While acknowledging embellishments in his resume, Santos downplayed the allegations as overreactions by others, according to the Washington Post.
