Saturday Night Live has sent off disgraced former congressman George Santos with a parody of Sir Elton John’s Candle in the Wind.
The House voted to expel Santos from Congress on Friday after a scathing ethics report earlier in November concluded that the New York Republican had sought to “fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,” including the use of campaign funds for personal use.
Santos will also face trial next year, as federal prosecutors in a 23-count indictment have charged him with stealing the identities of campaign donors and using their credit cards to make tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges. He has pleaded not guilty and Newsweek has reached out to the former congressman for comment.
Santos was hit with scandal even before he was sworn into office in January, when reports emerged that he had lied about having Jewish ancestry, a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, among other things.
Saturday’s SNL opened with Bowen Yang, in a cape, reprising his role as Santos, holding his farewell press conference outside the Capitol.
“Enough, enough, everyone stop assaulting me! I’m being assaulted,” Yang said.
“This entire country has been bullying me just because I’m a proud, gay thief. What else is new? America hates to see a Latina queen winning. Since the day I was elected, it’s been a witch hunt, but if I’m guilty of anything, it’s for loving too much[…]fraud.”
Yang then took questions from the media, calling on a reporter played by Ego Nwodim by asking for her “name and routing number.”
Asked how he feels about being only the sixth member in House history to be ousted by colleagues, Yang replied: “Oh, big whoop. You think I need this? You think I need any of you?”
He went on: “You want me to say that I’m lost, that I’m humiliated? Fine, so I’m no longer Congressman Santos. I’m regular old professor major general reverend astronaut Santos, protector of the realm, princess of Genovia.
“Now is being expelled and prosecuted for 23 felonies a setback? Sure. But I promised myself I wouldn’t let it ruin my Kwanzaa. Okay. Next question. You, give me your mother’s maiden name and childhood pet.”
Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African-American culture held between December 26 and January 1.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
He then said he would be remembered in history “as a martyr, as a champion of the people. They’ll think of me as the modern Princess Diana and the modern Marilyn Monroe, which is why I think I would like to sing a tribute to myself.”
He then moved over to a piano, channeling Sir Elton John as he sings: “And it seems to me I’ve lived my life like a scandal in the wind/Never knowing who to cling to when the law closed in.”
In the next verse, he sings: “And it seems to me that I’ve lived my life like an evil Forrest Gump/I’m the guy who lied even too much for Donald Trump.”
Santos was also lampooned in the Weekend Update segment of the show.
“This week we said goodbye to a former first lady, a former secretary of state and the Supreme Court’s first female justice, and also a guy who claims to be all three of those things,” Colin Jost joked.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.