George Santos Airs All of Congress’ Dirty Laundry in Final Interview Before Prison

26:01Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms, and dizziness. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. Why wait? Ask your doctor. Visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. Fall is the perfect time to refresh and reorganize your space. At the Home Depot, find power tools and tool sets starting at$50 to help tackle DIY projects, home updates, and more.

26:39Whether you're drilling brackets to support new shelving or sharpening your hedge trimmer blade with an angle grinder, the Home Depot has the tools you need to check projects off your list. Shop Labor Day savings at the Home Depot and gear up for fall projects with the right tools to keep your projects moving. You think of all the Republicans who hate their party, worked against their party. You think of all the Republicans. Those are the 105. Fair. But you think of the crazy behavior that goes on in Congress, and I do want to ask you about that at some point. But, like, that is a wild precedent to set.

27:17that we're just going to expel someone from a body to which he was elected? Well, I mean, they are pretty self-important up there. But you would think that they would also be interested in self-preservation to the point where they would say, let's not set that precedent. Let's not start doing that. Well, here's the funny thing. I was expelled, no due process, right? And you had not been convicted of it. No, not even, no adjudication whatsoever, just allegations at the point. And had I not been expelled, I'd still probably have a Jews to put up a fight. But when you're expelled, you lose juice.

27:49I don't know how to put it to you. That's well put. Like, I lost juice. I had no gas in my tank to keep going forward. So, yeah, I totally. Where was, okay, so the leadership of the Republican conference, the Republicans in the House, would be able, I think, to tell Republicans how to vote on this. So, Mike Johnson's the speaker. I'm going to say this. Kevin McCarthy was 10 times a better leader for the conference than Mike Johnson is. Well, that's for sure. I mean, no question. Oh, I've noticed. I can't believe I'm saying that. You don't need to agree with Kevin's politics per se. No, I agree.

28:27But he was a great leader. He knew how to, he whipped that into shape. He was kind of agnostic on the ideas part. He just wanted to win, right? He just wanted to win. He's a winner. He wants to win. And that's fine for me. I kind of disagreed with him a lot. I've let him down a few times, but you know what? he had my back. So I always go back and I tell Matt Gaetz, do you still really think it was a good idea vacating McCarthy? Cost me my seat, cost the conference a seat, you know, but I was so mean to Kevin, who I should just say is a nice man. And I saw him at dinner last summer. He was seated at the table next to me, couldn't even look at me.

28:58And I thought, you know, I was so mean to that guy. He's easy to be mean to. It's easy because he was the face of something you were angry at. That's true. I'm annoyed by Republican leadership always. But then you look at Mike Johnson, who's a disappointment. Oh. So much potential. Authorizing all this killing in the name of Jesus. It's like, I can barely stand it. So, yes, I think those of us who thought kicking Kevin McCarthy out of leader, I had nothing to do with it, but just cheerleading from the sidelines, we were completely wrong. And I think it's important to admit that. I agree. And so, Mike Johnson takes a posture of vote your conscience.

29:33At least Stefanik is freaking out. Like, what do you mean vote your conscience? Like, this is the Congress. You don't have a conscience? She firmly votes to keep me, Mike Johnson, Scalise, most of leadership who matters. And then you have the useful idiots like Richard Hudson, which I don't expect you to know who he is. But believe it or not, he's the chairman of the NRCC, which is in charge of recruitment. Now, you wonder why we can't expand the majority. Who is he? A former staffer became congressman, which is the worst way to become a congressman. From a state? From the state of North Carolina.

30:05Okay. So he was a staffer to a congressman, then became the congressman. And now somebody thought in their infinite wisdom, we're just going to let him be the NRCC chair. A total dud votes against me. Then you have the Mormon out of Utah. I have such contempt for some of these people that I forgot their names. Fair. He's the deputy conference chair. Can't remember his name. I know he's super tall. He votes expel me. So you lose the tall guy. I lose the tall guy. Then Lisa McClain, who up until the moment of the vote, she's like, this is so unfair, honey, what they're doing to you. Vote to expel me.

30:41I'm like, wait, what the hell just happened? Never looked at her in the face again. So this is leadership. Leadership fractured. And it gave people a window to say, well, some of leadership went sideways. We're just going to go with that band of leadership. But in the end, as you know, you served in the body. if the Speaker said, no, we're not going to let Democrats kick out this guy for stuff that we all know is pretty common. And by the way, if it's a crime, the courts will make that judgment. That was the only thing I argued with them. Right. So if Mike Johnson had said that, you would have been fine.

31:17Why didn't he say that? Michael Guess recently at an event in Mississippi told a person, and for the sakes of that person's privacy, because he entrusted in me, that he flat out said it was political because they had polled the neighboring districts and they were getting slaughtered because of me. I find that very hard to believe because I was still being able to go back home, do my district work. In the middle of all of that, Tucker, I did constituent work. I was doing town halls. I was doing mobile office hours. I worked through it. These guys were all scared of doing anything because my name was going to come up.

31:54Well, just say I'm not George Santos. If you have issues with George Santos, go visit George Santos' office. 100%. That's it. But they took it personal and they made it personal. And it's fine. And here we are, you know, but that's why I got expelled. So did you know Mike Johnson? I knew Mike Johnson from the fact that me and Lauren Boeber harassed him to run for speaker while we were going through that entire debacle. Yeah, that was unbelievable. I was coming out of the... So McCarthy's, can you just walk us through it for those of us who've forgotten the details? McCarthy gets vacated. Right.

32:24And, you know, the one thing I hold till this day in my year from that day was Nancy Mace. Nobody knew what she was doing. And all of a sudden, that echoes. What's Nancy Mace? Nancy Mace. Just kidding. I love that name. All I remember is her very, it felt visceral. She screams an I that I'm never going to forget the strength she used to say I for vacation. him it echoed and permeated through the halls and through the chamber and it you could hear a pin drop because nobody saw that coming that was a final nail in his coffin wow and i sat nancy mace growled an eye with every fiber in her being i looked i remember looking at cory mills's face and going like what the just happened he's like this changes everything we were just so caught off guard because now from m onwards to z right mace and yeah anything can happen anything can happen and i sat there just like pondering like what is happening right so that happens we instantly get pulled into conference we've now you know you look at steve womack's face hitting the gavel and saying the office of the speaker is now vacant, one eye squinting, the other eye almost bonking out of his skull.

33:57I remember looking at Womack's face and looking around like, did this just really happen? I'm like, when history couldn't be made even more, but it just just really happened. And I'm, from my purview, I'm like, oh my God, I'm not the drama anymore. This is so, for six weeks, I felt so relieved. I'm sorry, Kevin, but I just felt so relieved. It was not on me anymore. This is about Gates and Kevin. And I don't know if you remember the baby story, me carrying a baby and screaming at a Hamas protester. So that all happened in that. I was just hanging out with babies at that point because nobody cared about me.

34:38But we all now get transferred to doing our conference meetings in the Ways and Means Committee room, which is in the Longworth office building right off of Constitution. Yeah. My office was just down the hall. So I was like a two minute walk. I joke, my office became the hideaway bar for some of my colleagues. So we were going there and we're doing these votes in behind closed doors. And all I kept thinking was how much I hated it when I would be on the outside and read about it. They're all now gathered behind closed doors voting on this. I said, the hell with the closed doors narrative. I went to X and I started going and telling people play by play.

35:21They were sequestering our phones. I said, I'm a fucking congressman. Sorry. No, you're not taking my phone. You were a fucking congressman. I literally said, you're not taking my phone. Enough of this shit. No more babysitting. And I was just texting, live texting from in there. And then I started going out there and joining spaces. And there's some space hosts out there, Diligent Denizen and James and Shell Shock. These guys were hosting these spaces in lieu. and I'm just giving it to them in real time. And the numbers started piling up with the audiences, tens of thousands of people listening.

35:53This is the first time a member of Congress is deflecting from the entire conference and telling them what's happening behind closed doors, play by play, who's voting for what, what fights are getting to, what propositions are being offered. You know, even McCarthy's navigation trying to go back into the speaker's office. There was a lot of those deals being cut. Did you know that at one point? there was an offer of a co-speakership between McCarthy and Jim Jordan. That was an actual thing. That was on the table. Like, Jim will be the speaker and I will be co-speaker with him and we'll share the office.

36:28And this was offered, you know? So I'm telling people this and people couldn't believe it. So then we go through round one. It's Jim Jordan and it's Steve Scalise. And I personally, I was very clear about this at the time. Scalise, who I look up to him tremendously, was going through cancer treatment. And I said, come hell or high water, I'm not voting for a man going through cancer treatment. This job will kill him faster. Yeah, it's not good for him or the country. It's not good for him or the country. I said, it's not smart. I don't think he ever quite understood that. I did it from a place of love, and I think he took it personal.

37:02And that's okay. That's totally fine. So we want to brag, but this has got to be the most pro-dog podcast on the entire internet. They're almost always dogs, actually, just off camera. So dogs are non-negotiable. Dogs are the best. And people who love dogs really, really love them. We can relate. And so for that reason, we are thrilled to announce a new partner called Dutch Pet. It's the fastest growing telehealth service for your pets. It's on a mission to create affordable, quality veterinary care at any time, no matter where you are. They'll get your beloved pet what they need, and they do it at a high speed.

37:38And by the way, if you ever brought your dog to the vet, the dog doesn't like it. They can smell the darkness sometimes. It's true. Sometimes you have to go to the vet, but if you can avoid it, you should. And you want to. And Dutch.com has vets who can treat over 150 animal conditions with just 10 minutes on the phone. You never have to leave home. You never have to scare or upset your dog. No wasted time. You don't have to wait weeks for an in-office appointment. And you don't waste money. Unlimited visits and follow-ups for no extra cost. free shipping on all products for up to five pets. Membership starts as little as 11 bucks per month and Dutch.com saves most customers nearly a thousand dollars a year.

38:19We use it. It's awesome as dog owners. It sounds too good to be true probably, but it's absolutely real. Visit Dutch.com slash Tucker to learn more. Use the code Tucker for up to 50 bucks off your veterinary care plan per year. That's a year of unlimited vet visits for$82 a year. Your pets and your wallet will thank you. This is going to change the game, and we're proud to be partnered with them. I get so many headaches every month. It could be chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting four hours or more. Botox, on a botulinum toxin A, prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine.

38:56It's not for those who have 14 or fewer headache days a month. Prescription Botox is injected by your doctor. Effects of Botox may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. Allerge your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. Patients with these conditions before injection are at highest risk. Side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms, and dizziness. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection.

39:25Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. Why wait? Ask your doctor. Visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. Fall is the perfect time to refresh and reorganize your space. At the Home Depot, find power tools and tool sets starting at$50 to help tackle DIY projects, home updates, and more. Whether you're drilling brackets to support new shelving or sharpening your hedge trimmer blade with an angle grinder.

40:03The Home Depot has the tools you need to check projects off your list. Shop Labor Day savings at The Home Depot and gear up for fall projects with the right tools to keep your projects moving. And then Jim Jordan, there was a Jim Jordan aspect of it. We went to the floor three times for Jim Jordan and I voted for Jim Jordan. I like Jim. Jim's a great guy. I had personal meaning with him, but it wasn't moving. So when I saw that it started to fall apart, I started lobbying Mike Johnson. Quiet in the corner, he's like, no, no, no. George, I could never. These guys are like two big brothers to me.

40:37And I said, Mike, you're the only person in here that nobody dislikes. Like, you're the nicest member of Congress. Nobody has an issue with you. You're the only one that can get a consensus. He's like, I could never do this to them. Then Tom Emmer tried. Poor Tom. I mean, the marriage equality vote completely ruined him with the conference, especially with the more Christian base. right? You're Bob Goods of the world, but never vote for him, right? So that went down in a ball of flame. And then the jungle primary started, the jungle rounds. There was like six of them up there from Dan Muser to Byron.

41:12And I love Byron. Byron's like a great friend. I was very conflicted at that point because here's the guy I lobbied and harassed to jump in the race in the race. and here's a friend of mine. But I also said at the time, I said to him, point blank, you're my friend, but I don't think you've been here long enough to be speaker. I think it will eat you up and you have so much more to offer, right? And I didn't want him to compromise on his values because you do have to compromise somewhat as speaker. Yes. But I didn't expect Mike to completely just throw his values away. Mike Johnson, the morning he decided to jump in the race, sends me a text message and says to the tune of, George, I just wanted to say thank you for the encouragement.

41:53I've decided to jump in the race. I hope I still have your support. My answer to him is, let's go, you know, like muscle emoji. Let's kick ass. I call Lauren Boebert, dead ass o 'clock in the morning. She's like, somebody die. I'm like, no, Mike Johnson's jumping in the race. She's like, woohoo, we're like celebrating. And from that point forward, we were his apostles for the MAGA base because we, the two of us were on spaces and then Matt Gaetz joined promoting him. People had no clue who Mike Johnson was, and we educated them. So that was my little role there throughout that experiment, I guess I call it, because that was an experiment.

42:31When was that? September. September of 2023. It went from September throughout October, early November. It was a nightmare. And then he got it. And then he got it, and about a week or two later was Thanksgiving break. Like, now here's the guy. Week two after he becomes speaker. He becomes speaker. Now here's a guy who I lobby like hell, put a lot of credibility into by propping him up on social media, become speaker. And I'm sitting in my bathtub having a glass of wine. It's Thanksgiving weekend. And I get a call from the speaker. And naturally you wouldn't answer. I said, I was just, Tucker, have you ever been over something so much that you were just like, I don't care anymore about decorum.

43:18I'm going to answer the speaker. Yes, I have, George. I just answered the speaker's phone call butt naked in a tub. Did you tell him you were butt naked in a tub? I did tell him I was in the tub. Like, you know, Mr. Speaker, right now it's put up or shut up because I'm enjoying a bubble bath with wine. He said, I'll pray for you. But he was trying to convince me to resign. What do you mean resign? He said, why don't you resign so this doesn't stay on your record forever and you leave in your own terms. And I said, Mr. Speaker - But you had just helped get him elected Speaker and a week later he calls and says, why don't you resign your seat?

43:54Yeah, pretty much. Cause he's trying to sell it to me as if it's good for me. Well, it sounds great. It sounds great. Lose your job. Yeah, it's awesome. Lose the job you blew your entire life to get and not even fulfill the entire term. Sounds like a great deal, Mr. Speaker. No, thank you. I told him, put up or shut up. You can tell the guys I said that because I'm not leaving. They're going to have to kick me out. And they proceeded to do so. How long after that did they kick you out? December 1st. So I want to say two weeks after Mike Johnson became speaker, this was Thanksgiving weekend. So six days later.

44:30So he obviously knew. I mean, let's be honest. He knew they were going to kick you out. I remember calling Guy Roshenthaler, who I love. Pennsylvania congressman, young guy, completely overrated. He would be a great speaker. You know, super young, dynamic. He's a deputy whip to Emmer. And I remember calling him and I said, guy, can I just ask you a question? He's like, what? He's like, do you guys have the number? They're like, do they have the number? I was like, I don't think so, George. I don't think there's an appetite for this. I said, all right, I think they do. He's like, what makes you say that?

45:01I'm like, gut feeling, right? It's like three times the charm. I had gone through this exercise two times prior. So I sat there and I just said, I think they have it. He's like, I'm going to run some traps and see the numbers. The day of, I'm on the House floor, and the numbers are counting. The numbers are counting. Then there was a stall, and it didn't seem to budge. And I'll get back to why it budged. There's a big reason why it budged. There's a stall. And I looked at Guy, and I said, this isn't looking good. Look at how many people haven't voted that are in here just talking to one another.

45:39And he's like, no, no, no. They're just reasoning. Trust me. This isn't going to happen. And it happened. And it happened in a glorious way for those who cheered for me to be expelled. People were clapping as, you know. And you're standing there? Oh, I stood there. The moment I saw - Well, your colleagues clapped for your expulsion? Pretty much. The moment I started walking down the aisle, as Kenneth Cole put it, I wore an expulsion chic outfit.

46:08I wore - Kenneth Cole said, well, he understood the assignment. He wore expulsion. She had the coat over my shoulder because it was a heavy coat and I didn't want to have to hustle with it to get in the car. So I had a kind of like a quick way out, right? My car was waiting at the Capitol steps for me. And it was just, that was it. Very anticlimactic. But - Did you get to clean out your office? Do you know what I did? I stayed in DC for Thanksgiving break because I had a gut feeling. I emptied my office out on the weekend of Thanksgiving when nobody was there to see it. So the one thing I never gave the media, I never gave him the George Santos carrying boxes out of his office.

46:47I never. Because I looked at my partner and I said, I think they're going to win this time. And to preserve some dignity, I'm not going to give them the defeated vision of me carrying boxes. But it seems clear to me, I don't know, but from what you've said, that when Mike Johnson called you a week after you helped get him elected speaker to say you should resign, he knew that he was, that you were on your way out and that he was going to play, he clearly played a role in that. That was literally the reason I decided to empty my office. So was that call? It was that call, yes. So why wouldn't he just be straightforward with you?

47:21It sounds like he's lying. Because it's politics. I know, but you can't tell someone you're going to pray for them and then lie. You can't. Very Christian of him. It's not, it's not. It's just not. You can't invoke God and then lie. Like that's not, you don't do that. That's not a good idea. But I've learned one thing about these people in Congress. It wasn't very Christian of him then, just like it wasn't very Mormon of Mitt Romney calling me a sick puppy. So it wasn't very Mormon of him to be so demeaning towards me. Mitt Romney called you a sick puppy? Oh, he told me to sit in the back of the room that if I were to stay that I should serve in shame in the back of the room.

47:57I said, nobody puts baby in the back of the room. That's not very Mormon of you. And he called me an ass and I called him. It's a very famous exchange between us at the State of the Union because it's my first State of the Union. Yes, I was center aisle seat. I saved that seat. And Tim Burchett says, well, you fought for this seat. You keep this seat. I'm not moving. Burchett said that? Oh, I'm so glad you're telling me this. Again, I'm not endorsing anything. All I'm endorsing is decency toward other people. And I got a lot of that from him. And I'm attacking self-righteousness, which I hate and is always a sign of rottenness.

48:32I'm not a choir boy. I don't make representations to be one. I am flawed. I've made stupid decisions that I regret profoundly. Why do you think Burchett was so kind to you? You know, because I don't think it's not like his constituents are the same as your constituents. Absolutely not. Tim Burchett is a special man in more ways than one can explain. I would equate it to him just being a good human being, a good following Christian that actually follows Christianity. I believe that. Because he reached out to me through Marjorie Taylor Greene on December 22nd, 2022, after I had taken two antidepressants after I walked out of the Fox News van and got my ass handed to me by Tulsi Cabard on your show.

49:18I wasn't there that day. I love Tulsi, as you know, but that was not my position. She was sitting in for me that day. No, that's totally fine. And I hold no animosity. Clearly, I'm not her friend. No, that became clear in the course of the interview. So sometimes when people sell products on TV, I love this product, I use this product, there's the question in the mind of the viewer, does this guy really use the product? Does he really love the product? Would he keep the product at home? Ask my dogs. Yes! Now we are in a garage. I'm not going to tell you where it is because, again, this is prepping, but this is my garage.

49:54There's a gun safe. And this is a part of my stockpile of Ready Hour. Completely real! Well, the second I put it here, the second Radio Hour sent it to me, I felt peace of mind. Because no matter what happens, we're not going hungry in my house. I moved a lot of fishing gear out of the way to keep it in my garage. And ever since it's been here, I have felt the peace of mind that comes from knowing my family's not going hungry no matter what. Lastcountrysupply.com. Lastcountrysupply.com. It can be in your garage along with the peace of mind that comes with having it. I get so many headaches every month.

50:29It could be chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting four hours or more.

50:59allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms, and dizziness. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. Why wait? Ask your doctor. Visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. But it was Marjorie. She's like, that was rough. I said, I didn't watch it.

51:33I experienced it. I don't need to watch it to know it was rough. So she's like, Tim Burchett from Tennessee really wants to talk to you. Can I give him your number? I said, sure. I didn't even know who or what a Tim Burchett was. And this man comes on the phone and is so kind. And so he extended not just a hand, He extended like a actual body for you to know you can rely. And believe it or not, we end up being diagonally positioned from one another in our offices. It's like maybe 40 feet away from his door. Wow. And I took advantage of that because that's where I would run for refuge many times and seek counseling guidance from him.

52:13And he was always there, arms wide open. It's amazing. I don't think most people watching this know who Tim Burchard is. I happen to know for another reason. And I've just been, I really don't like most members, but I do like him. One of the kindest human beings you'll probably interact with. I'm thrilled to hear that. So you get elected to Congress. What are your first impressions of it? What did you expect? And what did you find? I've learned one thing for the sake of the American people. It's not a serious place. It's essentially an overpaid and a very expensive high school. That's the energy.

52:44I mean, people are pulling fire alarms. people are yelling at each other on the Capitol step. The stoners, the preppy. It's just so bad. And then there's a fashionesis, which was, I was alone in that category. I felt so alone. I couldn't even get one of the lady Congresswomen to like join me on that. Like they're all so dull. I mean, I'll give Anna Paulina, she's kind of spicy. She is. Yeah, she'll put her dad's ties on it. I'm like, okay, that's a look, you know, but we had fun, you know, but it was just so, it's not serious. Tucker, I'm fun. Okay. I am a, I have a self-deprecating sense of humor.

53:22I am larger than life, but I know how to be serious. When serious is required, I will sit there. I will freaking give you spreadsheet charts of all the analysis as I did of a lot of the spending pork and the spending porn that was going on. And I would present this to the entire conference. I'd say like, just read this over. I'm being serious. Are we seriously, are we serious about our jobs or we're just doing messaging? Because at that point I learned 95 % of Congress, at least in my time there, was messaging. Nothing was serious. Nothing was serious. The only time they were serious was when the Uniparty joined and passed their pork scrupulous CRs.

54:00And I remember asking Mike Johnson this on the floor once, Mike, why are we going on recess? It's July of 2023. and we don't have the 12 individual spending bills out of the Appropriations Committee. What's Kay Granger doing? He's like, oh, it's not Kay Granger's fault. Ask your speaker. And I said, wait, what? And I proceed to go to one of Kevin's staffers. I'm like, why am I hearing that the speaker told Kay Granger not to progress with the 12 individual spending bills? Oh, George, don't worry. It's so complicated. but we're almost there. Well, first of all, now in hindsight, we know we had a senile chairwoman in Kay Granger who before she ended her term, she went into a mental health care facility for seniors.

54:52She was like wandering around Texas lost. That's the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. The actual, you know, when they talk about the power of the purse, she holds the goddamn purse. She was senile. She was in a memory care facility. She was in a memory care facility. And I empathize with that. And I feel bad. Of course. No one's mocking her. But that's a cover-up. But so why would the speaker allow her to be chairman of the Appropriations Committee? That's the cover-up. Mike Johnson knew of this after he became speaker. And so did Steve Scalise, which I like. And so did Elise Stefanik.

55:27Leadership knew she was absent for six months. Her staff was still receiving pay without doing any work. This is government corruption 101. I'm going to call it out on both sides. I don't care. And you should. I don't care. Nobody's throwing themselves for me to save me. I'm going to prison for seven years. The only person that can help me is Donald Trump if he chooses to. And at that, there's a bunch of people telling him not to. So why am I going to be kind to these people and not say the truth? You should be. The truth will set me free, Tucker. That's how I look at it. I totally agree with that.

55:59So when you go back to that and I'm having this conversation with Mike Johnson, And that's where I also picked up a lot of respect for him because he didn't mince his words. But we find ourselves in this place that is not serious. They're not serious about passing a balanced budget. I've noticed. They're not serious about cutting. I mean, Elon Musk blew half of his fortune by joining the government and going and being the chair of Doge. For what? None of those cuts have been codified by Congress. We're reappropriating some of these cuts that were identified. Never get rid of NPR funding. No. I mean, sure.

56:38The only good thing that comes out of public broadcasting funded by the, it's Big Bird and Elmo. Yeah. See, the only good. Who are a little creepy if you think about it, but. Who cares? Aren't we all creepy? To someone. To someone. To someone. Who is it that has nightmares about you? I forgot. The actress. Oh, that's right. Probably more than one. Yeah. But you get what I'm saying. I tell you, I know I'm creepy to people because they tell me on X. So we're all a little creepy. Did you find creepy people in Congress? Oh, tons. Oh, really? Pervy. I mean. Well, actually, pervy. I mean. Seriously.

57:18Look, I'm not in the business of throwing friends under the bus. Right. But in confidence. I've had actually reporters come to me and tell me of how members invite them to their offices. Oh, I have a scoop for you and then make moves on them. In the office. In the office. In their office. There's some weird sex stuff going on in Congress now. I keep hearing about this. Was that your experience? My experience was that it's a dirty place. I bought up to, I can't believe I'm giving all of this. No, no, no, no. But I keep hearing this from members that I know. And it's like, really? I bought up to Brian Stile, the chairman of the admin committee.

57:54One of my staffers, there's something called the cages in Congress, which is a storage unit for us, right? Those are the congressional cages. Underneath. Underneath, in the basement of every congressional house office building. So I was in Longworth and we're like, there's some stuff in the cages we might wanna go check before we order supplies. And I'm like, the cages, that sounds pretty racy. I'm like, what's that? They're like, oh no, boss, it's the storage unit. I'm like, oh, okay, let me go there with you guys. He's like, no boss, you shouldn't go there. I'm like, why? And he's like, well, you know, there's some rumors.

58:28people are going out down there and having sex i'm like wait is this serious so i know a few other staffers from other members so i went to some chief of staffs that i've known from the campaign time you know when you're campaigning you're talking a lot more to chiefs than you are to staff to the actual member of course so you built those relationships as a freshman so i knew a couple of chiefs and i was like yeah it's you know it happens like i what am i gonna do be the cock blocker, the sex police. I don't have time for that. I'm like, is there no remedy to this? They're like, no. I'm like, why don't we put cameras down there to create deterrence?

59:02So I approached this novel idea, which is like we're talking about installing like maybe six cameras in each one of these sections to Brian Stile. And he says, oh, we don't have time to focus on this. This is all based on baseless rumors. Then I learned that former members were caught having sex with stuffers down in the cages. And that's why cameras will never go up. No way. Yeah. So this is this is what we're dealing with. I mean, the last place on Earth I ever thought I'd have to deal with sex scandals. But why in the government building? Like everyone has a house, right? Can I tell you something?

59:35I think part of it is this dominance fetish problem that they have in D.C. What is that? It's the power. Like we're in Congress. I'm a staffer of the Hill and you're coming here to service me. That's the mentality, whether you're a member or a staffer, whatever. It's a dirty mentality. And I'm from New York. I have a high threshold for dirty and sleazy. But even for me, that kind of went like a notch above. And I'm like, I don't comprehend this. This is a government building. We're supposed to be boring. Sex was never in the job description. Especially like sadomasochistic tinged sex. Like it's about - We all saw the Senate twink, right?

1:00:22Oh yeah, the guy having sex in the committee room. In the confirmation room of all with Amy Klobuchar's chair. How tragic. What was the response to that? I was already out at that point, but - Were you shocked? Terrible. I was not just shocked, I'm gay. Right. I don't want to be associated to that. I fought too hard to disassociate from the gay ink and LGBT mafia. This whole nonsense yesterday in New York City with the gay parade. None of that represents me and my partner. We don't walk around in thongs, in dog masks on all four, like on our on fours. None of that represents us. We don't walk around naked.

1:01:06Well, what are you achieving with that? And then this kid goes in there and does this. What are you trying to achieve? marginalized people who have fought like hell. Because if you go back to Stonewall, Stonewall was about rights, not about promiscuous city. Right? Right. So what are these people trying to achieve? Creating hatred towards us. That has to be it. They're marginalizing us with these acts. So a person like that twink, that kid from the Senate confirmation room, I loathe a human being like that because I instantly get bundled into a basket, to quote Hillary Clinton, of deplorables.

1:01:43and I'm not that. What do you think that is? I mean, it does seem like a way to establish dominance or something. Like I get to have sex in the confirmation room. Like there's nothing you can do about it. I don't know. There's a hostility. Nothing happened. He was fired, but no charges. Nothing happened. Are members of Congress sleeping with each other? There's a few. Yeah. But consensual. Yeah, I assume consensual. Consensual adults who are out of their, you know, relationships at this point. Can you tell who the freaks are? The freaks in Congress? Yeah. I can't. You know what? I'll say this to you.

1:02:20The freakiest member in Congress is a very good friend of mine. Oh, she is? He is. He is. But I would not. I don't want to go down this path. Let's just. No, no, I won't. I'm not going to ask you about Nancy Mace. What is Nancy Mace like? I don't get along. So Nancy and I. What is that? What is the Nancy Mace thing? I don't know Nancy Mace. We used to get along in 2020. And then she was the first one to, the moment anything goes sideways, that's when you see people who were really your friends. She decided to go totally sideways on me and use me as a punching line and all that, but didn't vote to expel me.

1:02:57Didn't vote to expel me, and I respect her for that. But, you know, Nancy is just, I mean, I can't explain it. She seems very unhappy. There is a kind of exhibitionism, but it's not just exhibitionism. There's something really sad. She doesn't need to show herself naked. Her tits do it for her. They're massive. Is that true? Her tits show up before she does. If she's turning a door, you'll see her boobs first. And you're like, oh, that's Mace. Are they famous in Congress? They're pretty well known all around the country at this point. Have you not seen the videos? And again, not shaming, not body shaming.

1:03:37I think if she's happy with that, that's for her. But I'm just trying to say, you don't need to show yourself naked to get the attention. Just put a nice little cleavage like you usually do, and it works well. You know, like if it's attention, her currency, that's the fact. Her staff will tell you that. If you speak to former staff of hers, your mind will blow. What do they say? That she's an attention whore, a self-aggrandizement maniac. That's all they say. Every last one of her former staffers will say that. Every last one. Even by the standards of Congress. That's the scary part. They say that it goes beyond.

1:04:13And these are people who've worked for other people. Remember, we're all megalomaniacs. But for her to stand out, it's a very special situation. We're all megalomaniacs. That's not up for question. And if anyone tells you they're not, then they shouldn't be putting their name on a ballot because it takes a special kind of megalomania to say, pick me. I'm the best for you. No, I totally agree. I could never do that. It's like, although I think you'll be president one day. I don't think I'm the best. But I think, but nobody is the best. I'm not. But I think you will be. And I feel sad. I just want to be super clear because I know Nancy Mace will see this and I have nothing against Nancy Mace and I'm not attacking her at all.

1:04:57I just feel a sad, it's like that seems like a super unhappy person who should pause, address whatever is making her show naked pictures of herself or talk about her sexual assault or alleged sexual assault or all that kind of behavior i'm like you should not be in a leadership position okay number one you are not settled inside care of herself you shouldn't be in charge of other people like are you joking how can you have a system that elevates unhappy like obviously crazy unhappy people to positions of authority that's not a that's not a working system it It explains her turnover. Oh, is it high?

1:05:32It's the worst. By metrics, it's the worst turnover. Among staff. In Congress. Of all Congress people, she has the worst turnover. Yeah, that poor woman. Well, I hope whatever she needs, she gets. I don't hold an ounce of animosity to her. I say this jokingly because it's funny. Yeah, know it. And I will not miss a joke if I could make it. So it's not to degrade or demean or shame her, but she's definitely traumatized. And maybe there's a lot of truth to what this alleged criminal ex-boyfriend did to her. And it really hurt this woman because she's not the same woman I met in 2020. But you don't get to lead my country.

1:06:12I mean, I feel like we should be led by sober, responsible people who think longitudinally, who have squared away personal lives and people who love them, people to whom they're accountable, grandchildren, like normal people, property owners, people are vested in the country, not people who are acting out their self-actualization or whatever on stage. Key word, sober. Oh, is there a lot of partying up there? Oh, yeah. I mean, the amount of alcohol, the sheer volume of alcohol in Congress is staggering. I know. And some of them have been caught by alcoholics. A lot of them. And some of them are great.

1:06:51No, I know. Great people. And alcoholism is a disease that I, it's very sad. Been there. So I get it. No, I get it. Look, I will say this. I like, I drink. I'm not an alcoholic per se. Per se. You know, or by the standards of Congress, I could never be an alcoholic because I can't drink half a bottle of scotch in one sitting or three bottles of wine like I've seen some of these guys crush it. I'm like two glasses in and I'm just like. Guys in leadership too. Dude. No, I know them. I heard from one the other night who I like so much. Nice man. He's texting me late night about something totally bizarre.

1:07:33Not bad and not creep or anything, but just was clear he was drunk. But you know, it's the bottle texting you. Loaded. Loaded. Sentimental. Stuff like that. And I'm like, oh, so you noticed that a lot. Well, I smelled it a lot. Actually? Yeah, it was so bad. Everything is a party, right? So think of all those late nights voting, right? Right. Some members, Tucker, would show up so wasted. They would have to sit in the cloakroom and hand their voting cards to sober members to go do their job. Actually? Yeah. And that's actually against House rules. I've seen that in my cloakroom. I know it happens in the Democrat cloakroom because I've exchanged notes with a fellow freshman.

1:08:18He's like, it happens here, too. It's a shit show. So, yeah, I've watched groups of some of my colleagues, some guys who I genuinely like a lot, sit in the corner of the cloakroom completely inebriated, incapable of walking outside, standing still, sticking their card and pressing yay or nay and back. Especially when we had long amendment battles with like, you know, 70 amendments. Yeah. They just hand their cards and say, just vote whichever way you're going to vote. I mean, it's the only thing I, just don't make me look crazy. I've seen it. You know, I've personally seen it. So, and nobody's ever probably going to have the cojones to come here and tell you this.

1:09:00I mean, clearly no one has respect for the institution. Zero. Zero. I mean, members leave DC to go back home sometimes under like the hush hush, but they're still voting because someone else is voting for them. That's criminal. That actually happens? Yeah, that happens. I've seen it. Well, that's illegal. Well, that's what I said. It's criminal. Wow. Wow. You know, it's not hard to pull up flight logs and do like a tabulation of like, wait, how could you be in two places at the same time? The FAA keeps strict flight logs. Yes, they do. It's not very hard to prove that what I'm saying is fact. It's just do an investigation and you'll see.

1:09:44Why don't congressional reporters ever write any of this stuff? It's hard to know, to their defense, it's hard to know if a member is there or not.

1:09:55Imagine 435 people. From a bird's eye view, when you're in the gallery, they look like ants, right? They're just like scrambling. And wait, I didn't stay still. I would go from one end to the other. It's impossible to keep track. The way that they keep track is, oh, they must be here to be voted. Do you know how many times I would go in through under the – so the dais is here and you have the reporters on top of it in the gallery. Sometimes I would come right underneath there. There's a little slip there to vote. They wouldn't see me because I didn't go to it. I'd vote because I was giving an interview out or I was on a phone call and you can't talk in the chamber.

1:10:29So I'd put it in my pocket, go in there, look up. Oh, this is a vote. Vote. Go back out there. Continue my phone call. They would never see me, but they're seeing my vote go up. So they're like, oh, he's here somewhere. That's why they get away with it. But what about all the others? I mean, just the general vibe of it. I don't live there. I don't know a hundredth of what you know, but just from dealing with members of Congress a lot by text or on the phone, it seems kind of out of control. It is. Yeah, it feels that way. It's a frat house gone rogue. It feels that way. And not in a fun way either.

1:11:01At her expense. Yeah. At our expense. Exactly. That's the problem. When was the last time Politico wrote that piece? Like the reporters don't really seem to write about this. I don't think there's an appetite because there's a currency of access in D.C. that reporters are a pigeonhole to. And ethics has gone out the window for reporters in large because if they actually do the hard bangers, the ones that are in D.C. do the hard bangers, they lose access. The outlets don't want that. So there's an outsourcing that happens, right? Right. So they'll get a whiff of something, give it to their editors and say, I can't write this, but find someone.

1:11:40But then when you're outsourcing it and the person isn't there and doesn't have access, the story doesn't get written without confirmation. You can't get a second and a third to confirm. You know, it's tough for them to write it. It is tough. So it's there's there's an ethics issue that's going on in Congress and reporting for a while now. I believe that the answer to the question I asked at the outset, which is, why did they decide to destroy you? Not that you did nothing wrong, but your sins compared to the sins of your colleagues didn't really stand out, in my opinion, at all. I was a great volleyball player.

1:12:18So that's it. So I just want to ask you about that. So the reason I wanted to interview those before I got fired from Fox and I never got to the interview, but I just wanted to tell you, I thought that was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. That was like Dada. That was like performance art. That was just incredible. The volleyball team at Baruch. That's like, I wish I'd thought of that. I'm sorry. I know I will be attacked for being nihilistic or making fun of serious things, but I did think that was funny. I don't care. But I think you may have infuriated people by mocking the system itself. this is my kind of pet theory.

1:12:52I know it's kind of... Oh, no, it's my theory. Oh, is it? Okay, so tell me. So the volleyball story, a lot of people don't understand. So what is the volleyball story? Tell us the volleyball story. I had a GOP chairman in the district, Joe Cairo, who's a sports fanatic. Notre Dame grad, still lives, he's like 80, and he still lives in the dawn of Notre Dame. He used to, what do you, whistle? Like referee, I guess, games. Yeah. Until he got injured, so he couldn't, but he still goes to the games. Very big football fit. Every second word out of his mouth is a sports analogy. Yeah. I don't like football.

1:13:27I go to watch baseball, but I don't understand the plays too much. But I enjoy the sport. It's all American, right? Yeah, yeah. I know everything about volleyball, but I've never really played because I never really went to college. So I said, I'm just going to make up I went to college, played volleyball, and I can have some sports analogies and he'll like me. And it worked. I'm sorry it was supposed to be a little white lie just to create proximity with one guy but then he started talking about how I was a volleyball star I'm like fuck this went completely and then I literally started Googling like oh Baruch played Harvard they beat them that's all I could think of you know sadly it's the truth you know like I fucked up I fell into the there's no such thing as a white lie Tucker I think that's true.

1:14:19There's no such thing. There's no white little lie, just so you don't hurt feelings. No, no, no. The truth is imperative because I went from being known by my friends as being a blunt asshole to becoming liar, liar, pants on fire. And it's so shocking. Some of my friends tell me that. They're like, George, how do you go from being the guy who would eviscerate people to their face to now being called a liar? I'm like, I don't know. You think the politics. Broke volleyball. My favorite was you had said or you were perceived you have said, I have no idea what you actually said, but people would say he pretended to work at Goldman Sachs and he didn't as if working at Goldman Sachs was something to be proud of.

1:15:02So that was another thing. That's hilarious to me. They're mad that you didn't work at Goldman Sachs. I guess. That's where Tulsi actually really got me. Oh, she did. And I tried to explain and then I said, it's just going to go everybody's head. I worked for a company and we contracted work with them for the sake of embellishing. And everybody embellishes their resume. That's an actual fact. I'm not saying you should, but everybody likes to make them feel a little bit more important. So I put it on there. Oh, my God. That was so bad. Oh, big mistake. Never embellish. For me, never embellish. Well, I'm so grateful you didn't work at Goldman Sachs.

1:15:37In fact, you should get a tattoo that says, I did not work at Goldman Sachs. Or Citigroup. Or Citigroup. Citigroup. Can you imagine? can you imagine anything more shameful? It's today, actually, I'm embarrassed to ever had said that. Like thinking to myself today, I'm like, of all things to lie or to embellish, why would I embellish this? No, because if you were like an OnlyFans performer or just like a straight walker, you could at least say like, I ran out of money, whatever. But if you work at Citibank or Goldman, like it's hard to explain. Like I wouldn't want one of my children to come home and say I took a job at Goldman.

1:16:11I would be really upset. No, I don't blame you. Sorry. No, no, I don't blame you. It's like working for BlackRock and Blackstone. It's disgusting. These mega corporations are part of the problems we have today. I completely agree. But you think that making a mockery of what the rest of them pretend to hold sacred is what made them hate you? I exposed the theater. Yeah. And you know, it's funny, and I say this because, do you know when you look up to someone really well, and you're like, this is a stand-up guy, this is somebody I admire. And for me, that was Ryan Zinke. Yeah. Always thought he was such a stellar statesman.

1:16:57The hat thing going on, I think it's cool. Yeah, former SEAL. Former SEAL, Secretary of the Interior, Congressman, just a good man. Yes. Do you know what's the first things he said to me on the house floor once? He's like, George, I'm going to talk to you. I know you're going through some stuff, but just remember this. This is all theater. All that matters is you have one of the best seats in the house. I completely lost respect for him. Like, talk about never meet your heroes. Yeah, no, I know. Like, I sat there like, oh, okay. I left so defeated that day. I remember going back to the office.

1:17:33I looked at my chief. I'm like, I don't understand this place. He's like, what happened? I said, this, this, this happened. He's like, oh, but he's just trying to be funny. I'm like, I didn't think it was funny. I mean, and I'm not laughing at jokes. And that's when I started to realize it's all theater. And I expose the theater. But, I mean, how long can this continue? Does anyone there think like, okay, Congress doesn't actually make meaningful decisions. They passed all their power to the president, the executive, to the agencies, all the power of regulation, all the real power exists outside of Congress.

1:18:08They have only budgetary power, which they don't really exercise. They don't leverage. a joke and they're having sex in the basement like how long does this go on i don't think if if congress i hate using this as an example because it can be viewed as an as a terrible way but did you ever watch a show designated survivor with keith or sutherland no essentially a terrorist attack happens and a conspiracy happens in the country and the whole during the state of the union the capital's blown up yeah all governments wiped out the only person left is a designated survivor, which is a secretary of, I think, HUD.

1:18:47And he becomes president of the United States, right? And it's Keither Sutherland. So we all get crappy housing. We all move into such a... Well, what that show shows, I'm not advocating for that, but what that show kind of shows you is Congress was so broken that when they have the clean slate, they bring this whole... I got generally need is a shakeup. We need to clean house Republican, Democrat, everyone. I mean, it's bad enough we have senators like Chuck Grassley who are like four generations removed from the actual bulk of the working for workforce in America today, who's what under 40, under 45.

1:19:29Chuck Grassley's almost 90 and he's talking about potentially running for reelection. I don't know that he'll do that, but understand that. And I love Chuck Grassley. Me too. Tons of sacrifices. But I get it. We need to learn how to let go. We can't all Dianne Feinstein it. And may she rest in peace. She was a trailblazer in her own right. I disagree with her, but she was a strong woman, went to Congress, became a senator, whatever. I disagree with her policies, but she served her country in the best way she thought she did. But why are we letting these people die in office? It's like watching Joe Biden.

1:20:06It was elder abuse. The whole presidency was elder abuse. Why are we doing this to our country? At what cost is this coming? So I think we need a reset, a great American reset. And that means everybody needs to just not run for reelection. I don't care if you're a freshman today. We just need a real reset. I try to convince them to pass a bill that would say every Congress, if that Congress fails, and it's not my bill, but if that Congress fails to balance the budget, which is its sole duty and obligation, every member, therefore, would be ineligible for re-election. I was laughed at by every single person I propose this to.

1:20:46I bet you were. I was laughed at. I mean, we were promised term limits, which I support. I have some issues with it because the moment you pass term limits, you're handicapping the choice of the people and deferring the power to staff, which is dangerous. It's a very dangerous move. So there needs to be provisions in term limits that also move on to staff and what capacity they can serve for how long. Because we already have an issue with staff in D.C., which is what? Lobbyists, wine and dine committee directors more often than they do members. Do you know why? Of course. They slip in the pork.

1:21:24Because they make the decisions. And nobody knows. Members aren't reading bills. Unless you're Thomas Massey and Chip Roy, nobody's reading bills. I did. They don't read them. No, I did. Do you know why I had no committees? I was bored. Why did you have no committees? I stepped down from committee assignments because I genuinely believed it would really hurt the work of the committee. Tucker, I had a tale of 60 reporters at days harassing. So you, I'm so, and pardon my aging memory, you were under, so you get elected in 22? Yep. You came in January 23 and you're out by December 23. So that means - 11 months.

1:22:1011 months. And you got there and you were already in the middle of the swarm. Yeah. I had been already 10 days since the New York Times story broke. Wow. So when I showed up, if you don't understand, there's a video of me. I look like Dora the Explorer. I had a book bag. I like wearing book bags, but this particular one was from my 2020 election that I almost got elected and then the absentee ballots reversed the result. Long story. So it was the House GOP conference one. And I said, on my first day this time around, I'm going to wear that dumb bag. So I had the book bag on my back, like literally like first day at school kind of like vibe.

1:22:50Had my staff with me and we're walking to my office when we turned the corner. At least 50 reporters, cameras. I forgot what they're called. Those bigger cameras that do live feeds. I mean, you wouldn't believe it. We couldn't open our door without tripping over reporters. And this was from the very first day, January 3rd. Damn. And then if you go back to the speaker's vote, as we're going through all those rounds, you would think that I was the main subject of the vote because C-SPAN cameras were all, if I moved all the cameras, I remember joking Matt Gaetz is like, Like, George Santos moved.

1:23:32You know where he's sitting because the cameras are pointing in that direction. I don't know if it was Matt or if it was Laura. Somebody said that. Actually, I don't think it was Matt. I think it was someone else who said it. But it was like the cameras kept moving in whichever which direction I went. Like, if you go back to the coverage of the speaker's vote, it's like me plastered everywhere in a very uncomfortable way. Like, I was scratching my nose and people said I was picking my nose. I'm like, I'm scratching my nose. Do you think there's anything a Democratic member of Congress could do to get expelled?

1:24:04Do you think 100 Republicans would vote for the expulsion of a Democrat for anything? I mean, assault somebody and they're still there. Look, I reject the notion of expulsion. I agree. I wrote a piece recently and I ran it on the South Shore Press on the case of LaMonica McIverson. I reject any notion of expelling her. I think she needs to be afforded due process. Just because you set bad precedent with me doesn't mean one size fits all. And that gets people a little off guard when I say that because they would think I want to see everybody expelled. No, I believe in the Constitution. I believe in due process.

1:24:38A hundred percent. She needs to have due process. The people rule. They'll decide who serves them. She acted like a thug. Don't get me wrong. Outside that ICE facility. I couldn't agree more. But she has due process. That's exactly right. And Alina Hobbes delivering it. Yes. So in the end, you were the DOJ was as tough on you, the Democrat controlled DOJ, as some of your Republican colleagues. I mean, Merrick Garland supervises case directly. Directly? Directly. I mean, my attorneys were talking to the DOJ attorneys and they say, OK, we got to go back to the AG and see if this works. Damn. And so that's a lot.

1:25:21It's a lot of pressure. Now, I understand probably why I'm a city member of Congress. So that kind of checks. But you would think that that would be more hands-off once I was expelled. It continued the same. Everything was run through the AG. They had zero agency. The one thing that brings cause for pause is the amount of discrepancies throughout this entire process I had. Exculpatory evidence being withheld for 14 months. Significant, not just nominal. Significant exculpatory evidence being withheld for 14 months. Motions ignoring Supreme Court rulings. I mean, it's a laundry list. I'm being forced, Tucker, to pay back 200 and somewhat dollars, 200 and somewhat odd thousand dollars back to the NRCC.

1:26:07Money that I've never seen. It was used towards my campaign. And the NRCC in its own admission says they would have spent the money. That's the bare minimum they spend anyway because my polling numbers were good. The DOJ says they only spend it under false pretenses because I said I was something I was not. So NRCC is not National Republican Campaign Committee. Yeah, committee, yeah. Is not asking you this. But I'm being forced. But DOJ is requiring it. Is forcing me because they needed that number in order to get the points higher to get to the 87-month sentence. Oh, it's also grotesque. By the way, I forgot to ask you, what did your colleagues think of Trump?

1:26:45Like behind the scenes, what did they say about Donald Trump? Oh, I love seeing the fakery. You know, if I got a dollar for every time I heard somebody say, he's not going to get elected. This is nonsense. We need to move on from him. I'd be a billionaire. You'd be able to pay your legal fees. Absolutely. I probably wouldn't be going to prison. You feel the fraudulence, you know. So, I mean, look, Mark Green is one, the chairman of the homeland, who's now stepping down because he's doing some gold deal in Guyana. but is still serving while he's negotiated employment terms. Don't even get me started on that one.

1:27:23He's negotiating a gold deal in Guyana while still in Congress? Yes. And he's notified the ethics committee according to his own public statements. And everything is kosher. They're aware that I've already have employment terms secured. I'm like, you're lobbying for a new job while still holding a position of public trust? That's per se freaking criminal. I would say. I mean, what are we doing? So, you know, you have him. You have so many fraudsters there. Like, President Trump has about a good three dozen real allies in the House. Yes. Like, that's about a real three dozen real allies, like Elise Stefanik, Marjorie, Lauren.

1:28:03Right, exactly. Those are his allies. The rest, they're just as dumbfounded as probably the Democrats are that he got elected. And they don't like him. They don't like him. And they're fake. They're very fake. Like, and it's this posturing and it's painful because I know some of the guys who work for President Trump who vet this crap and they know. Obviously, they need to play nice or else they're going to stall his agenda. So I'm not here to tell the president to go scorch earth on them. But I just want him to know, you know, there's a lot of fake people there, people who who are literally trashing him.

1:28:38I mean, it just. What do you think Mike Johnson thinks of him? I mean, look, I'll say this about Mike. I know Mike is a supporter because he was in his— He was in the courtroom. Not just the courtroom. Forget that. I can tell you a bunch of those who showed up there who really care for Trump. He was in his impeachment defense team, right? So if you're putting yourself— No, I agree. If you're putting yourself in that position, you care for the guy. Like Lee Zeldin cares for him. I think President Trump's biggest allies are already around him, with the exception of Elise, who I kind of feel got a raw deal with what happens to her.

1:29:16She should be the UN ambassador. Yeah, I don't understand what that was about. It's backstabbing. I mean, Elise is a knife holder. She's the new knife holder in Congress. Everybody backstabbed her on that. That wasn't by design. That was purposefully done to hurt her. And I think it's really wrong what they did to Elise. Who did it, do you think? Look, the speaker I know lobbied begging for him to stop pulling from the House and ask him to reconsider Elise. And I have that on good authority. I mean, nobody gave me receipts, but I spoke to enough people. Once you hear something from more than three people and it's the same exact words, you start believing that it's credible.

1:29:52And I think that's the standard for reporting, right? Yeah, it's the standard in life. You don't need to give me a receipt or a text message or a recorded phone call. Because if three different people within a specific spectrum, right, in D.C., all were able to – and I didn't just hear it from three. I heard it from about four or five. And they all said the same thing, that the speaker was asking him to reconsider because he was concerned about what was going to happen in her primary up there, in her special election up there. I believe he's culpable. And that's why I believe he bought back the position of the chair of the conference, the chair of leadership, you know, because it's guilt.

1:30:30Again, I'm not accusing him of anything. No, I get it. I'm just explaining that math is hard. And this math was simple. If she left and that special election went to hell, that meant we wouldn't have one more seat. And that would have made things even more tight. So I don't think that's crazy. I mean, that seems like a totally legitimate explanation. And rumors are she's very unhappy, as she should be. I would be a bull with tits. I would see red everywhere I go. I don't know how she's still smiling on camera. I'd just be sour puss galore. Do people enjoy serving in the House? Some do. I did. Despite everything, it was an honor of a lifetime.

1:31:14I don't think I'd ever do it again because I don't think there's anything happening there that I think I can be more effective out here than in there. Educating people on how it works and how dirty it is because I still have. I will be well-sourced in the house for at least another decade and a half. With time, it dwindles down, but I will be well-sourced at least for a decade and a half. A lot of people who came in this Congress, I already knew them too from trying previously or just from knowing them from the MAGA world. So, again, there's always that. So there's some people who enjoy it. I enjoyed it very much.

1:31:52It was an honor of a lifetime. I'm a people person. I love helping people. It's something I enjoy. And that job gave me the official authority to help people. And I found it very fun. I mean, I had Wednesdays I would answer calls in my office. Again, remember, Tucker, I had no committee assignments, so I was pretty free. So I started answering phone calls every Wednesday. Just like pick up the phone. Pick up the phone. Phone rang like, I just be like, Office of Congressman George Santos, how can I help you? Who's this? I'm like, this is a congressman. No way.

1:32:24You pick up your own phone while everybody abandoned. I'm like, no, everybody's busy. The phone was ringing and I'm available. How can I help you? People would be so shocked because a lot of these times it was just agitators calling to nag. And I'm like, how can I help you? Well, you know, Congressman, listen, I take great issue with you, but I'm actually shocked you answered your own phone. I'm like, I mean, what's wrong with answering your own phone? I'm not a lord with a pointy hat sitting in a throne. I'm like, I answer my own phone. So I would have very interesting conversations. I regularly, when I was not in DC, I kept a schedule of nine to five in my district office.

1:33:01I showed up to work every day. and my staff, my chief of staff would find that so strange being a veteran on the Hill. And even my district director who worked for Lee Selden previously for four terms, eight years, found that very odd. Like, sir, you don't have to be here. Do you have any events, any public agenda? I'm like, no, but I'm on paper. I'm on the clock. I'm getting paid. So what can I do to help? And they'd sit there very uncomfortable. I mean, I'm the principal and I'm sitting there and it's a small space and it's just like all stiff on the computer. I'm like, guys, you can act normal.

1:33:34Please don't pretend you're busy. Because if you're not busy, then that means you're ahead on the work. But if you're backed up, let me help. And I did constituent work. I don't care. I totally loved it. People would walk by and be like, you actually show up? I'm like, yeah. Come on in. You want some water? I got Diet Coke in the back. I got snacks. I kept the hefty stockpile of snacks on the taxpayer dime because it was for the taxpayer. What kind of snacks? Pirate booties was a big favorite. It's like an organic puff of, I don't, I think it's an organic popcorn. I'm very conscious about labels.

1:34:10So seed oils or those things are no, no, no, no extreme dyes. So I'm like very in line with the Maha movement, right? In Congress, I compared Dan and Nutrition Facts label from America, yogurt, and one from Europe. Europe has five ingredients. The American one, and for strawberry yogurt, The American one had everything but strawberries and like 19 ingredients. At least. So I would keep a lot of pirate booties and some Hershey kisses. Try to keep it really fun for people. I saw over here you keep dry fruit. I'm a big dry fruit guy. I like dry fruit. I love dry fruit. I don't know if it's good for you, but I like it.

1:34:46Mango dry fruit, the best. Did you ever see the brand Peeled? Yeah, we've got some over there. That's so good. I buy that by the bags. I love it. I don't know that it's really good for you, but it's really high fructose for sure, but so good. Yeah, I like it too much, so I know it's not good. Yeah. Anything I like is not good. That's kind of me. So you're going away in 24 days. I asked you off camera that I know a million people go to prison. I know more people go to prison than most people. And I always ask everybody the same, like, you don't think you deserve the sentence. You think you got screwed.

1:35:19In your case, I agree with you. I'm a first-time offender. No, it's nuts. I wasn't even given those credits. So why not? I mean, if the system's not going to be fair, then why do you have to play along with the system? Why don't you just split? I'm proud. I'm extremely proud. I'd rather go down with the ship. Like the same way that I said put up or shut up and didn't leave and didn't quit. I don't run. I don't split. And I could, right? And that's why they called me a flight risk and they sequestered my passports because I'm a dual citizen by birth. I was born here, but my parents are, you know, legal immigrants to this country.

1:35:54From where? Brazil. And through my grandparents, I also am legally a Belgium citizen. So they sequestered my documents and all of that. And here we are. But you never seriously considered stowing away to Antwerp? Inquire. Reach out. The RAG reached out. I was still in office and saying that he had gotten a tip that I was planning to flee. And this was like, I want to say June of 2023, that he had multiple sources confirming that I had plans to flee in a private jet and I was going to split the country. And I had just been indicted probably a month earlier. And I called, my comms director told me this.

1:36:41I said, let's call this guy. I put all my lawyers on the line, put the call on speaker, called him from my office phone. I had my chief of staff, my communications director, my deputy chief of staff, my operations director, and my senior advisor all sitting in the room. And I said, hi, how can I help you? Oh, Congressman, this is Enquirer. I'm the chief editor. I forgot the loser's name. Could care less. And he says, I have on good authority that you're planning to flee in a week or two in a private jet that you arranged. I'm going to keep it PG here but I said and who told you this marvelous story Mary Poppins you effing inbred like and then it went from there and I said I dare you to publish it I will sue you I will bankrupt I will own your fucking rag and my attorney's in my ear he's like Congressman that's not no no no you're provoking him and then I'm like and furthermore I will hunt down your entire goddamn sorry lineage.

1:37:49Fucking do it. I dared him. It never happened. I hung up. The entire staff goes to me and is like, that's not how this call was supposed to go. I'm like, you know what? I'm tired of playing by whatever recommendations you guys. Well, I mean, a call like that from a journalist is almost always inspired by a call to him from somebody else. He's doing the bidding of somebody else. Of course. They're like, DOJ is encouraging this, right? They want the story to be out there that you're considering fleeing the country so they can. Just like CNN was informed that I was indicted before I was. No way. Two hours before we were notified of the indictment, my attorney, Joseph Murray, got a call from CNN saying, hey, I heard George Chances is indicted.

1:38:33What are you doing? And he's like, I'm sorry, this is news to me. The guy goes silent. Two hours later, he's like, hey, now I know you've been notified that he's been indicted. and my attorney's like, what is going on? CNN knew two hours prior to me getting indicted. So disgusting. So. How do you feel about it? I mean, looking at this long stretch. Tucker, can I be honest with you? I hope you will. I don't know that I survive it. They're putting me in a violent prison. It's a medium facility. I'm not a streetwise guy. I don't know how to fight. I'm a gay man. Statistics tell you what happens to gay men in prison.

1:39:10I don't know that I survived this. I'm being honest. I mean, I can't change that. It's sad. I, you know, I have a family. I have - Are you serious? I am genuinely serious. People think I'm exaggerating when I say this. I've never had to fight a day in my life. I grew up in a very sheltered life, apartment kid in New York City. I don't have wilderness. I mean, my experience in wilderness, let's call it, I like skiing, you know, but it's just not me. I'm not that guy. I don't know that I survived this. I mean, I am, this could be very much my last interview. And I'm not trying to be overdramatic here.

1:39:46I'm just being honest with you. I look at this as practically a death sentence to what could occur to me. And we've seen this. It's not like I'm saying something out of the ordinary. I'm not built for this. And I'm not saying, oh, don't want to do the time, don't do the crime. This isn't about this. This is about the type of punishment. the justice system is supposed to be reformative for people not punitive this is punitive we're supposed to dispense justice this is punitive justice is of course absolute some things are absolutely right others absolutely wrong but it's also a relative measure so if a rapist doesn't get seven years then a guy who's accused of mishandling fifty thousand dollars in campaign contributions shouldn't get seven years like that's just doesn't i mean that's part of justice right?

1:40:32That's the crux of it. Right. There's a scale of severity when we describe crimes. The guy who threatened and plotted to kill Anna Luna Paulina, he had three years. The guy who plotted to kill me got probation. Seriously? Serious. It's public record. Guy down in Florida. I think Brevard County. I chose not to ask for like some punitive thing because he didn't actually do it or try, but he did devise a plan and notify me of the plan. And that's why Capitol Police took action. And he didn't get any time. Rapists in New York State up in upstate New York, there was this guy who molested nine different children.

1:41:21That's six months. Six months. They're sending me for seven years and three months to prison in a medium facility prison with known with people there who are known gang members and people who are rapists, sex offenders. I should at bare minimum be in a camp. I'm not saying I'm special or I deserve special treatment. It's just about I'm not a violent person. I'm as I am a pacifist squared. Like I don't get into physical altercations. You can come in my face, spit. I don't have this urge to be violent. I'm not violent. I'm a total nonviolent human being. Hence, I'm also a very non-interventionist type of person when it comes to war.

1:42:05Sue, this is like so bonkers. And there's nothing you can do. The only thing I can do as a human being today is pray that my pardon application or clemency the application, commutation, whatever, reaches the DOJ on time and President Trump can act on it. That's literally the only thing I have. Who do you think is advocating for you to do seven years? Who's whispering in the presidency or that you need to serve seven years in prison? A few people. Can you name any? Of course. The county executive of Nassau County, Bruce Blakeman, the chairman of Nassau County, Joe Cairo, former Congressman Anthony Disposito, Congressman Nick Lallota.

1:42:41These people hate me. It's vitriolic. It's personal. But seven years in prison for nonviolent crime? Some people said that it wasn't enough. There were people actually saying they didn't think it was enough. There was, Congressman Lelotta was cheering it on his social media. Man, I think we should be careful before we cheer other people's destruction. I completely agree. That's a principle we should all remember. I didn't cheer when they shot Osama bin Laden, and I didn't like Osama bin Laden. I didn't cheer. I don't cheer anyone's death. I disagreed with killing Saddam Hussein. I thought it was a mistake.

1:43:12Well, it turned out to be, you were right on that. And it was a very unpopular take at the time. Yeah, no, Iran controls the country, so. Very, very, very, very. No, none of the geniuses have ever apologized for that. No, but just in general, wishing misfortune on other people, taking pleasure in the suffering of others, it's not a good thing to do. It's very unwise. It's just bad karma. Big time. Big time. And the world goes around. I completely agree. And karma comes with it and slaps you in the face. It's almost like when you're on the merry-go-round and you have your hand out and you're slapping people.

1:43:44That's karma on the world. Totally agree. It's pretty bad. When I was in prison, you visited me. That's what, you know, that's what we're commanded you. So do you expect to be visited and by whom? So I'm not allowed to, because I'm a high profiler, they call celebrity status. They only allow family members. Yeah. I don't know what my technology situation is right now. If I'm going to have access to technology, that's dicey. We, you know, two of my employers said that they, I can keep writing for them from prison. They don't mind. They know that I can figure it out and, you know, which whatever acts is.

1:44:19And that also helps me be able to maintain myself gainfully employed to continue to support and provide for my family, which I'm a big provider for them. Yeah. I don't know that that's all up in the air. It's, they only start talking to you two weeks out. So next week is when we start to have these conversations. Prison TikTok. Huh? You ever looked at prison TikTok? I have not, no. I haven't either, but I was just hearing about it the other day. Apparently, prisoners are all over TikTok recording their thoughts and music videos and stuff from prison. The last thing I want to do is get caught with a phone and add more time.

1:44:50That's exactly right. Last question. What are you doing to prepare psychologically? I've tried everything. I went off. I went on a hiatus. I haven't done media until last week when Mandami. I was on a six-week media hiatus and Chanel Rion from OAN had me to, I love Chanel. And I said, you know what? I'll give you one last, we'll do a last one. Right. And then when one of your production folks called me, I said, I answered the phone and I said her name. And she's like, you have my phone number saved. I'm like, of course I would. I don't want to say her name because I don't want to dox her. So she's like, can you do it?

1:45:30I'm like, look, I can do it. Last time you agreed to do my show, it didn't go well. I told her that by the way. Sorry, sorry, sorry. So I said, no fill-ins, right? No surprises. But all kidding aside, she was wonderful. She was the best. And we found, this was Sturzan, and here we are today, Monday. It's because I was having this conversation with somebody who knows you. I was right here in this barn, like last week. And I was talking to George Santos. I said, how is George Santos doing? And he's doing seven years. I was like, what? Couldn't even, I'm so out of it. and I'm just, and I've been so focused on Iran and I'm embarrassed.

1:46:02I didn't fully get it. Seven years federal? Yeah. Which means like seven years. Yeah. And I said to this person, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard. Yeah, it is. Has this gotten a lot of attention? Not really, no. I haven't, I mean, the day I got sentenced, they wrote little, you know, oh, he sobbed in court. You damn right I sobbed in court. Seven years of my life. I mean, a big thing, I'm 36. I'm going to be 37 on July 22nd. And three days later, I have to turn myself into federal prison for seven years. So once the piñata party's over, once they've, you know, finished destroying you, knocking the stuffing out of you, they just, it's just, no one cares what happens next.

1:46:39Your name has never spoken again. Well, we'll be here. And I, I hope you, you know, are rescued before you have to serve the time. And I hope that if you're not, that it's redemptive. And I hope either way, you'll come back. I appreciate it. Thank you. George Santos. Good to see you. Tucker Carlson. Thank you for having me.

1:46:59We want to thank you for watching us on Spotify, a company that we use every day. We know the people who run it, good people. While you're here, do us a favor. Hit follow and tap the bell so you never miss an episode. We have real conversations, news, things that actually matter. Telling the truth always. You will not miss it if you follow us on Spotify and hit the bell. We appreciate it. Thanks for watching.