George Santos said 9/11 ‘claimed my mother’s life.’ She died in 2016.

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When George Santos mentioned his family during his congressional campaign, the New York Republican often reflected on the work ethic and strength of his mother, Fatima Devolder, and how she survived the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, where she was working that day. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight But as the representative-elect has come under increasing pressure to explain himself after it was revealed that he lied about his business experience, education and family ancestry, Santos is now facing questions about what appear to be conflicting accounts of his mother’s death.

In two 2021 tweets that were first reported by journalist Yashar Ali late Wednesday, Santos suggests that Devolder died at different times. In July 2021, Santos replied to a Twitter account named “9/11 was a victimless crime.”

“9/11 claimed my mothers life … so I’m blocking so I don’t ever have to read this again,” Santos wrote.

In December 2021, Santos tweeted to reflect on the fifth anniversary of his mother’s death in 2016.

“December 23rd this year marks 5 years I lost my best friend and mentor,” he wrote. “Mom you will live forever in my heart.”

December 23rd this year marks 5 years I lost my best friend and mentor. Mom you will live forever in my heart. — George Santos (@Santos4Congress) December 23, 2021

On his campaign website, Santos’s team acknowledged that while “George’s mother was in her office in the South Tower on September 11, 2001, when the horrific events of that day unfolded,” she was not among the more than 2,700 people killed at the World Trade Center.

“She survived the tragic events on September 11th, but she passed away a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer,” the campaign website reads.

A short obituary for Devolder confirmed that she died Dec. 23, 2016, one day after she celebrated her 54th birthday. The obituary incorrectly states that she was 64.

On Thursday, a video was posted to Twitter of an interview Santos gave to BizTV during the campaign that featured the candidate claiming that both of his parents were at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, but survived.

“I get emotional,” he said at the time. “My parents were both down there the day of the attacks and fortunately none of them passed.”

New: George Santos claimed *both* of his parents were at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and survived, and accused “the left” of “trying to erase that history.”

Santos: “I get emotional. My parents were both down there the day of the attacks and fortunately none of them passed.” pic.twitter.com/LtGA7AE6Tq — PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) December 29, 2022

While many first responders and people around Ground Zero later developed health problems, including cancer, because of exposure to the contaminated air, critics were quick to draw attention to the latest inconsistency in Santos’s personal story, as well as point out that 15 years was more than “a few years later.”

Santos’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Thursday.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly (R) announced Wednesday that she was opening an investigation into Santos for “the numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated” with him that “are nothing short of stunning.”

The attention on the Republican followed an explosive New York Times story on Dec. 19 that detailed the repeated lies Santos has told about his background. Among the topics that have been called into question are whether he ever worked at Goldman Sachs or Citigroup, both of which said they have no record of his employment; whether he attended the prep school he claimed to have gone to; and whether he graduated from college.

Santos also pushed an unsupported claim that four of his employees were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016. Santos later said to WABC that the four people “were going to be coming to work” at his company. And despite previous public comments about being of Jewish heritage, he later told the New York Post that he never claimed to be Jewish. Instead, he said he referred to himself as “Jew-ish.”

Even after he acknowledged in interviews this week — including a contentious segment with former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard on Fox News — what he described as “résumé embellishment,” Santos said that he’s not a criminal and intends to serve in Congress.

Santos was viewed as an unlikely Republican success story in November when he won an open congressional seat on Long Island held by a Democrat. The victory thrust Santos into uncharted territory for the GOP, becoming the first non-incumbent who is an openly gay Republican to be elected to Congress.

But when the Times story came out last week, Santos faced immediate calls for him not to be seated in the new Congress on Jan. 3. While it is likely he will be seated, Santos still could face ethics and other investigations. The House also could expel him if two-thirds of members agree to do so.

Santos’s mother was born Dec. 22, 1962, in Rio de Janeiro and immigrated with her family to the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. She “gave up everything to provide for George and her family,” according to the Santos campaign’s website. Devolder was described by the Times as having worked as a housekeeper.

“George’s drive, commitment and determination were inspired by the legacy set and left by his mother,” the campaign website reads. “She delivered the American Dream to George, a debt that he wants to repay to the rest of his neighbors and constituents.”

As of 2021, at least 4,627 responders and survivors who enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had died. While not all of the deaths can be attributed to illnesses linked to Ground Zero exposures, researchers have identified more than 60 types of cancer as well as roughly two dozen other ailments linked to Ground Zero exposures, according to Scientific American.

After the past tweets from Santos about Devolder’s death resurfaced, Democrats leveled fresh criticism at the representative-elect. Among them was Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who tweeted a list of the fabrications to which Santos has been linked in recent days.

George Santos pretended to be a gay Afro-Latino Ukrainian Brazilian Catholic Jew whose mother died on 9/11, whose ancestors survived the Holocaust, whose employees died in the Pulse club mass shooting, and whose net worth rose by millions overnight.

Am I missing anything? — Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) December 29, 2022

Aaron Blake and Azi Paybarah contributed to this report.

toejam78 on December 29th, 2022 at 17:33 UTC »

I died on 9/11 as well.

Caninetrainer on December 29th, 2022 at 17:07 UTC »

How was none of this found out while he was running for office instead of after?

phine-phurniture on December 29th, 2022 at 17:05 UTC »

looks like mccarthy will keep him around for his upcoming speakership fight....

this is the GOP loayalty above quality of character.... WTF?