George Santos attended a Mar-A-Lago New Year’s Eve Party with Rudy Giuliani and the Trump family, with not a mask in sight. (@Santos4Congress/Twitter)
Gay Trump supporter George Santos hit out at the New York Times for citing an Instagram post showing him maskless at the Mar-A-Lago New Year’s Eve party, after his fiancé was subsequently fired.
Santos, a failed congressional candidate, was among the throngs of maskless revellers pictured at Donald Trump’s Florida resort on New Year’s Eve, along with Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump Jr, but not the president himself.
The Republican shared a photo of himself and his partner at the bash to Instagram, with another photo of his, reportedly showing the event’s menu, being cited as a source in a New York Times story on the event.
The newspaper did not name Santos in its report, however on Sunday (3 January) he tweeted: “My fiancé & I had to leave our home this evening with our 4 dogs thanks to the @nytimes publishing of my Instagram showing me attending #MarALago New Year’s Eve party.
“My fiancé a pharmacist who worked 12h/7days shifts for 9 months was fired! The violence against us is real.”
Santos’ post received a backlash on Twitter, with many supporting the pharmacy that fired his fiancé and saying the couple should accept the consequences of their actions.
One user said: “The real violence is aimed at responsible Americans trying to protect themselves, their loved ones, neighbours & people like you (by staying home, wearing masks, socially distancing) from disdainful irresponsible folks who attend superspreader events like that unnecessary party.”
Santos’ Instagram is now private, however on Twitter he has continued to defend his actions, calling liberals a “cult” for “attacking me for attending a party”.
“Any publication thinking I’m giving up my my constitutional freedoms due to their bullying is mistaken. I will continue to advocate for our constitutional freedoms,” he wrote Sunday.
George Santos ‘honoured’ to attend Mar-A-Lago New Year’s Eve superspreader.
Santos ran for the US House of Representatives in the November election for the 3rd congressional district of New York. He lost to Democratic candidate Thomas Suozzi, but has already filed to run again in 2022.
His campaign was supported by the Log Cabin Republicans, an organisation representing LGBT+ conservative candidates.
The New York Times report on the Mar-A-Lago New Year’s Eve party cited the social media posts of several attendees, including a video posted by Donald Trump Jr which showed a crowd of maskless people dancing to a live performance by Vanilla Ice.
Santos posted a number of photos from the party on his Twitter, showing him and other guests maskless at the event.
He captioned one image: “What an honour it was to spend New Year’s Eve at #MarALago with the Trump family.”
Donald Trump did not attend the party, which he hosts annually at his private social club in Palm Beach, Florida. He and Melania flew back to the White House that day without explanation.
However, several of his children attended with their partners, including Donald Trump Jr and his girlfriend, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, as well as Eric Trump and his wife Lara, and Tiffany Trump.
The event directly contradicted Palm Beach county guidelines which requires face coverings to be worn in “all businesses and establishments”.
Many took to Twitter to call the flagrant rule violation “gross” and criticise Santos for “blaming the NYT” despite his many social media posts.
One commented: “This is what stupid looks like folks. Only positivity in 2021 for these fools are their COVID tests.”
Over 500 people were scheduled to attend the event which reportedly cost $1,000 per ticket. Critics believe it will become a “superspreader” event, much like the White House Rose Garden event in September 2020 which preceded Donald and Melania Trump, as well as several senators and White House staff being diagnosed with COVID-19.
Santos contracted COVID-19 in early 2020 and called it “probably the worst two weeks of my life as an adult”.