Several months after being sentenced to seven years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, George Santos is a free man thanks to Donald Trump.
The disgraced politician and former US Representative was given something of a lifeline by Trump earlier this week, when the US president (never gets old saying that, huh?) announced that he’d “just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”
If there’s one thing we know for sure about George, it’s that he loves attention — so of course he wasted no time appearing on CNN‘s State of the Union to talk about his pardon and what could possibly be next in store for him.
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“People are going to hate me,” George proclaimed to CNN’s Dana Bash. “It doesn’t matter whoever gets clemency in the future, whoever that person might be. I’m pretty confident that if President Trump had pardoned Jesus Christ off of the cross, he would have had critics.”
“So that’s just the reality of our country,” he added, later claiming that he’d received “a seven-year disproportionate sentence that is anything but political if you talk to anybody who really looks at these kinds of cases.”
“Pardon me if I’m not paying too much attention to the pearl clutching of the outrage of my critics and of the people predominantly on the left who are going to go out there and try to make a big deal out of something like this,” George later fired off in the interview, before defending Trump for issuing the commutation.
“It is known that presidents have the power of the pardon and clemency, which are plenary, and they’re extended at their will.”
Dana also asked George if he still planned to pay back his victims, and he replied that he’ll “do my best to do whatever the law requires of me.”
Long story short — if you’re still waiting in line to get paid back by George Santos, stay in line.