Video of George Santos Sitting Alone in Congress Viewed 1.5 Million Times

A video circulating online of Republican Representative-elect George Santos sitting alone and silent during Tuesday's animated House Speaker ballots has smashed past1.5 million views.

The soon-to-be New York Congressman won his race to power during November's midterm elections, but his victory was quickly followed by reports tearing down several claims he made about his personal history.

On Tuesday, images and footage of the 34-year-old Republican sat in the lower chamber, occupying himself with his cell phone as his fellow representatives-elect failed to approach him, quickly began to spread on social media.

Santos was seen to rise only to cast his vote for GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to take up the gavel as speaker of the House.

Santos was sat at the very back of the chamber, ABC reporter Ben Siegel tweeted, adding on Tuesday that the newbie representative-elect appeared "to be the only person sitting in silence" and "not talking to someone else."

The Republican was also seen to swerve questions on the first day of the 118th Congress, telling another ABC reporter only who he was backing for House Speaker.

A report by The New York Times following his win last year claimed Santos had lied about several aspects of his personal history, including his employment history at two high-profile banks and that he was Jewish.

Santos had previously said he attended Baruch College and New York University, but he then admitted he "didn't graduate from any institution of higher learning."

Apologizing for publicizing false information about his background, Santos told The New York Post that "my sins here are embellishing my résumé."

He has since stared down demands from both Democrats and some Republicans to step down as representative-elect before being sworn in.

Santos has resisted this move, and did not officially take on the role on Tuesday after the House stalled in its objective of electing a new Speaker.

The representative-elect cannot officially become a congressman until the lower chamber chooses a speaker, which it failed to do after three ballots on Tuesday.

Ahead of what was expected to be his swearing-in ceremony, an invitation was circulated online that encouraged recipients to join the "celebrations" of the day.

It was originally published on Twitter by another New York congressman, Representative Ritchie Torres, who wrote that Santos was "charging people for touring the US Capitol and attending his Congressional swearing-in".

The invitation listed two "contribution" tiers, one being a cost of $100 for "attendees", with "VIPs" facing a steeper fee of $500.

Newsweek has reached out to Santos' office for comment.