George Santos Calling To Preserve Integrity of House Sparks Jokes, Memes

George Santos has been mocked after posting a video online in which he vows to "preserve the integrity of the U.S. House of Representatives" ahead of a vote to block a resolution censuring Democrat Adam Schiff, which was defeated on Wednesday.

The New York Republican didn't end up backing the motion, however, and voted 'present' in the House, despite previously claiming not passing a censure would be a "miscarriage of justice."

Santos flipped New York's third congressional district in November 2022, but shortly afterward, became a controversial figure on Capitol Hill when it emerged he had fabricated much of his resume. In May, Santos was arrested and charged with 13 criminal counts, including wire fraud and money laundering. He denies any wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, a Republican effort to censure Schiff—the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee—over his investigations into whether the Trump campaign had ties to Russia failed. Twenty Republicans voted with Democrats to table the resolution censuring Schiff while two GOP lawmakers voted 'present'.

The censure motion shows Republicans are trying to hit back at Democrats involved in what they perceive to be politically motivated investigations aimed at Trump. On Tuesday, the former president pleaded not guilty to 37 counts relating to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. In a separate case, Trump has been charged in New York with falsifying business records to cover up the reported payment of hush money to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, which he also denies.

In a Twitter video posted on Wednesday ahead of the vote, Santos claimed Schiff had "abused his power to pursue the Trump campaign, and its campaign staff," adding: "This abhorrent behavior is unacceptable for a member of Congress."

He continued: "To not carry out a censure would be a miscarriage of justice and a dereliction of our sworn duty as members of the House of Representatives. We must preserve the integrity of the U.S. House of Representatives and censure Adam Schiff today."

The video sparked a wave of jokes and memes from other Twitter users, who drew attention to the criminal charges Santos is facing.

James Bramble, an attorney from Salt Lake City, replied: "This feels like a Christopher Guest mockumentary."

Another Twitter user replied: "You're going to prison," attaching a graphic that shows Santos along with the words "Me talking about integrity is pretty f****** rich."

A third Twitter account said: "What would you know about integrity? They are only keeping you around because they need your vote."

Republicans against Trump, an anti-Trump conservative group, commented: "Are you F kidding me? Resign already!"

Kes Bretagne, from Tennessee, wrote: "Integrity. You just said 'integrity.'"

She followed this with a laughing emoji, and a GIF of a woman saying: "Maybe a word that you may not be familiar with."

Despite his video, Santos voted 'present' on Wednesday, rather than backing the censure motion.

Thomas Massie, one of the 20 GOP representatives who voted to table the resolution along with Democratic colleagues, argued the $16 million fine stipulated would be in violation of both the 27th and 8th Amendments.

Newsweek has contacted Santos by email to ask why he didn't vote to censure Schiff and for comment on the reaction to his Twitter video.