Republican Don Bacon says he would resign if he were embattled Representative George Santos

January 16, 2023

Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) said during an interview with ABC’s This Week on Sunday that he would resign if he was in Representative George Santos's (R-NY) position.

During the interview, anchor Jonathan Karl asked Bacon, "I have to ask about George Santos. His lies are so numerous that they’re easy to lose track of. I want to tick through just a couple. He claimed that he was Jewish and the grandson of Holocaust survivors. He claimed to have attended Horace Mann Prep School in the Bronx. He did not. He said he graduated from Baruch College in the top 1% of his class, and he was the star volleyball player on the team, volleyball scholarship. He never attended the school... There are many more. I could go forward. Should he resign? I mean, should he be in Congress?"

Bacon responded by saying, "If it was me, I would resign. I wouldn’t be able to face my voters after having gone through that. But this is between him and his constituents, largely. They elected him in, and they have to deal with him on that. But I don’t think his re-election chances will be that promising, depending on how he handles this."

George Santos has become a massive headache for Republicans, but so far there hasn't been a strong call for him to resign.

Individually, Republicans like Don Bacon have suggested he should resign. But the Republican Party as a group has chosen to remain on the sidelines and would rather Santos's constituents make a decision.

Santos resigning wouldn't cost Republicans the House of Representatives, but it would represent a problem for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he leads a barely united party against President Biden and the Democrat Senate.