Controversy has sparked around the country as constituents and government officials discovered that Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was lying on his resume and throughout the duration of his campaign. 

The Nassau County republican was elected to serve New York’s 3rd Congressional District, but is now under fire and investigation by city, state and federal agencies. With all of this information in mind, it begs the question: What exactly did George Santos lie about and why is it so bad? 

First, Santos claimed that he went to Horace Mann, an elite prep school in the Bronx, but didn’t graduate from the institution due to his family’s financial circumstances. Additionally, he stated that he earned degrees from New York University and Baruch College. 

However, spokespersons from all three schools came out and said that they have no records of Santos’ enrollment in their institutions, and as it turns out, the congressman does not have a college degree. 

“Honestly, there was no reason for [Santos] to lie about his schooling,” said senior Nathan Hill. “Plenty of elected officials don’t have degrees from fancy high schools and universities, and the fact that he lied tarnished his reputation more than him not going to college.”

In addition to the inaccurate claims about his education, Santos declared that he used to work on Wall Street at two major investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Similar to the universities Santos claimed to have attended, both Goldman Sachs and Citigroup had no employment record of him. 

During an interview when these lies came out, Santos stated that he didn’t actually work for the companies, and he delivered somewhat of an apology. 

“I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume,” the congressman told the New York Post. “I own up to that … We do stupid things in life.”

George Santos’ resume doesn’t even account for a fraction of his lies. In addition to fabricating elements regarding his education and career, it’s been discovered that he was lying about everything from campaign finances to his family history.

So far, several of his constituents and fellow government officials have called on the representative to resign. In fact, according to a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, 60% of the residents in his district believe he should step down. 

The case of George Santos is proof of the lessons we are taught from an extremely young age: Honesty is always the best policy. While I recognize that getting elected is an extremely difficult task, fabricating critical information is detrimental not only to Santos, but to the legitimacy of Congress as a whole. 

Rep. George Santos should resign from his position in the United States House of Representatives. In the status quo, Americans are being deceived by the congressman, which is not only causing chaos, but a significant lack of trust from all ends of the political spectrum.
If the people are unable to trust their congresspeople, then our country will continue to have an issue with voluntary compliance of public policy and a divisive legislature.