George Santos | Club Random with Bill Maher

Club Random with Bill Maher

In this episode of Club Random, Bill Maher interviews former Congressman George Santos about his controversial political career and the fabr

Key takeaways

• George Santos admits that his claims regarding college education and volleyball achievements were entirely fabricated to impress GOP leadership.
• Santos describes his time in federal prison and solitary confinement as an 'awful' experience.

Main topics

• Political scandals and fabrications
• Life in federal prison

Notable quotes

I'm a recovering politician and I never want to do anything in politics again.

Conclusion

The episode provides a candid, if chaotic, look at the personal conseq

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) While you were remodeling your backyard to make it more, you know, zen-y, we were remodeling our merch store to make it more random. We slapped our new logo on t-shirts, tie-dyes, hoodies, and hats, and all with premium printed labels. Look. I wasn't kidding. We have it. Because tags are like the junk mail of clothing. All merch is available exclusively at clubrandom.com. Once again, that's clubrandom.com. I can tell when someone's lying. I have no reason Speaker 1 (0:35) to lie. You got it all Speaker 2 (0:37) out of Speaker 1 (0:37) your system. What was Speaker 2 (0:41) prison like? Awful. Speaker 1 (0:43) I was there for 23 days, and then the warden put me in solitary confinement. What did you Speaker 2 (0:48) do? Speaker 1 (0:52) Hi. How are you? Look Speaker 2 (0:54) at how friendly. Every guest should greet me this friendly. How Speaker 1 (0:58) are you? Some of these Speaker 2 (0:59) motherfuckers Speaker 1 (0:59) don't even stand up. Oh, that's so Speaker 2 (1:01) bad. You deserve it. Speaker 1 (1:03) You deserve for people to stand up for you. Some Speaker 2 (1:05) of them have been 90, that's why. Speaker 1 (1:08) Hey, see this thing? Speaker 2 (1:11) What Speaker 1 (1:11) is that? Well, Speaker 2 (1:12) now you're from Brazil, right? Yeah, Speaker 1 (1:14) my family's from Brazil. Speaker 2 (1:16) Okay. I was born in New York. Speaker 2 (1:20) George, we're going to have to get to this. We'll get to it. Yeah, absolutely. This thing is from Brazil, I believe. Really? Yes. I had a friend who was an art dealer, and this is quite a valuable... Is Speaker 1 (1:34) it like a Bossa Nova type band? Speaker 2 (1:36) Yes, and you plug it in, and these motherfuckers, like, Speaker 1 (1:40) they move. They move and play? It's fucking creepy. Is it like Girl of Ipanema or something like that? The Speaker 2 (1:44) faces are creepy. They are. It's very Speaker 1 (1:47) like The Shining. You know what I mean? Yeah, Annabelle meets The Shining. Speaker 2 (1:53) Yeah, so, but I thought Brazil, Speaker 1 (1:57) but... You're from you were born was born New York City, but your parents are from Brazil born in Brazil there It suits funny. My family is an immigration chain of chaos, right? Speaker 2 (2:07) Cuz you also say you're a Jew Jewish Speaker 1 (2:09) and your grandparents were in the Holocaust my mother's grandparents, so my great-grandparents Were in in Europe during the Holocaust. There was a dislocation as Speaker 2 (2:23) Jews Jews, yeah. My mom was raised... So they lived through the Holocaust. They Speaker 1 (2:27) lived through it, and they migrated to Brazil, part of that great exodus. And then some genealogist from France, hired by the New York Times, said I was lying. It's a story I was told my whole life. It would be funny if we found out today that you've been telling the truth about everything. I'm Speaker 2 (2:44) not counting on Speaker 1 (2:45) that, George. Well, you know, look, I've been proven right on a lot of stuff in recent Speaker 2 (2:50) times. Well, okay. And again, I'm not here Speaker 1 (2:53) to adjudicate. I'm here to have a conversation. I'm not Speaker 2 (2:55) either. Have you seen this podcast before? I have. We could see it. I'm just a guy who likes to fucking get high with somebody. I love it. Look, I'm also called bullshit, bullshit, and that's probably going to happen. Speaker 1 (3:08) That's Speaker 2 (3:08) great. Yeah. Speaker 1 (3:10) I think I'm breaking news to you. I'm the first one to say I've said a lot of bullshit in my life. And I'm very self Speaker 2 (3:20) -aware of that. Hey, Speaker 1 (3:22) I went to prison, Bill. Let's just put it that way. I heard you had a good time. I don't know about that. No, I'm sure you did. It was a bad time. Speaker 2 (3:29) The consensus is that you kind of Pinocchioed your way into Congress. And I have to tell you, your reputation. No, it's my reputation. I'm Speaker 1 (3:36) not here Speaker 2 (3:36) to Speaker 1 (3:36) attack Speaker 2 (3:37) you. But I mentioned, by the way, I'm very excited you're here. I'm so excited to Speaker 1 (3:42) be Speaker 2 (3:42) here. So, like, when they told me, it came across. It Speaker 1 (3:45) was last Speaker 2 (3:45) minute. Yeah, it was last minute. Chuck was so great. I got your staff amazing. Yeah, Speaker 1 (3:49) they Speaker 2 (3:49) are great. And I was like, oh my gosh. And I told someone who is a very dear friend of mine that, and this is a 28-year-old person. And I said, George Santos. And she went, the liar guy? So that was like the person who's not like that much of a news sound. That's what the headline was. But, you know. If you can tell me, I thought it sounded like what they were saying was that your grandparents escaped the Holocaust by being born Catholic in Brazil. But you're saying they lived through the Holocaust. Speaker 1 (4:33) Do they have stories of living through the Holocaust? My great-grandparents, not my grandparents. That's where the disconnect originally was. So my mother is born in Brazil to... a Brazilian parent and a Belgian parent. My great grandparents are Belgian, right? So that's my last name is Devolder on my mom's side and Santos on my dad's side. Speaker 2 (4:53) But you identify as a Jew. Speaker 1 (4:55) No, I identify as Catholic. I was raised Catholic. But now? I say Jewish. I did that stupid 23andMe. I did a documentary. They made me do a 23andMe to prove it. It says I'm 33 % Ashkenazi, so in the 23andMe DNA. But Speaker 2 (5:10) it wasn't, like, you're like me then. Like, Jewish is part of my, like, genetic heritage. But I'm not Jewish. I Speaker 1 (5:17) was not either. I was raised Catholic. Speaker 2 (5:19) You were raised Catholic? Raised Catholic. Yeah, so Speaker 1 (5:21) we had the same thing. So I carry this on my neck, and I've carried it since I'm 15. I have a Star of David. that was given to me by my mom, and a Catholic cross. And I've carried this in my neck since I'm 15 years old. I'm 38 years old. You feel it wards off evil? Speaker 2 (5:36) I just feel... Speaker 1 (5:37) My mom passed away 10 years ago, so for me, it's just like, I don't know. It's going to die over my neck. And you're gay? I'm... Last I checked, yeah, I'm married to my husband. Is that a gay thing? Speaker 2 (5:52) None of you don't suck Speaker 1 (5:53) dick, but... There's a lot to be unpacked there that I'm not giving you the privilege of unpacking. Speaker 2 (6:01) It was an old joke. It's Speaker 1 (6:03) a Speaker 2 (6:03) great one. A gay guy wakes up next to another gay guy in the morning. He says, oh my God, did I commit it? gay act. And the guy says, Peter Allen is a gay act. You fuck me in the ass. Speaker 1 (6:15) That's actually great. Speaker 2 (6:17) But you're out of politics. That's good. I'm a Speaker 1 (6:21) recovering politician and I never want to do anything in politics again. Speaker 2 (6:25) No, I don't think it was right for you. You're moving toward show business. And see, this is, I think, a good move because politics, I mean, you can bullshit a crazy amount, but there is a limit. There is. What's good for you is your business. It's just all bullshit. Speaker 1 (6:42) And so Speaker 2 (6:43) I'm learning. Do you know how many people in L.A. Speaker 1 (6:48) actually say they represent me when they don't? Really? Who does represent you? IAG. as of recent. Isn't that Speaker 2 (6:59) an Speaker 1 (6:59) insurance Speaker 2 (6:59) company? Speaker 1 (7:00) No, Independent Artist Group. That's how much trouble this guy's in. His agent is Speaker 2 (7:04) an insurance agent. No, his agent is Independent Artist Group. I just engaged with them. Who else do they have? Speaker 1 (7:11) I Speaker 2 (7:11) don't. Really? Speaker 1 (7:12) You Speaker 2 (7:12) don't know? Speaker 1 (7:13) I don't. Is it bad that I don't know? Yes. I'm kind of new to Speaker 2 (7:16) this business. Are you kidding? Everybody in this town. If you're switching agencies or you're thinking of it, you want to know, do they have people on my level? I'm this level. Speaker 1 (7:31) I'm bottom of the barrel. I'm crawling my way up out of it. I would hope they don't have people at my level and that's higher. So anything is up for me. That's why I'm not too picky. Well, Speaker 2 (7:43) very self-aware of that. I was going to say, you know, it's not your honesty comes out when it comes out. I mean, you like. Maybe I'm the whisperer. I don't know. A Trump like me. President Trump loved your dinner Speaker 1 (7:55) with him. Speaker 2 (7:56) We both did. We both had a very good time, including me contradicting him constantly. He never got mad. But, you know, they get mad when I report that. But that's exactly what happened. But we're not here to talk. But you were a supporter, too, right? I mean, you won as a Republican. Speaker 1 (8:13) I was a very conservative Republican. Proud of that. Are you in the log cabin, Republicans? At one point I was. They're not a serious organization. You don't Speaker 2 (8:24) think so? No, they're not. Tell me why. They're Speaker 1 (8:26) not. For people who don't know, that's the gay... It's a glorified sex club. Speaker 2 (8:31) Wow. Now there's headline news. The Glock Cabin Republicans is the lobby within the Republican Party for gay Republicans. And there are a lot. There are Speaker 1 (8:40) a Speaker 2 (8:40) lot. Peter Thiel. I mean, you Speaker 1 (8:42) know. I mean, you can go back to RNC Chairman Ken Melvin who works for KKR now. And quite Speaker 2 (8:46) a Speaker 1 (8:46) few in the Speaker 2 (8:47) closet. Speaker 1 (8:48) What? Look, let me be honest with you. When I was in Congress, I was the first ever openly gay man elected to Congress. When I served in Congress, I was not... You were the Speaker 2 (8:58) first openly gay man elected to Congress? Republican, Speaker 1 (9:01) yes. Speaker 2 (9:02) Well, here's the cruel joke of adulthood. Your enthusiasm for Friday night drinks never drops, but your tolerance for the aftermath falls off a cliff. You want to enjoy yourself. Meanwhile, Saturday morning is sitting there, arms crossed, waiting to collect. That's why the team here at Club Random keeps Z-Biotics on hand. The crew has one before going out, and everybody still shows up the next morning, able to hit the gym, get through the day, and speak in complete sentences. Z-Biotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically-engineered probiotic invented by PhD scientists to break down acetaldehyde. Speaker 1 (9:44) I can't. Speaker 2 (9:45) That's Speaker 1 (9:46) as best as I can do. You Speaker 2 (9:47) look it up. A byproduct of drinking alcohol. Pre-alcohol produces an enzyme designed to break that byproduct down. Make it your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and enjoy your next day activities. They've sold over 14 million bottles and earned the trust of thousands. Try for yourself today, and if you are unsatisfied, they will refund your entire order. No questions asked. Head to zbiotics.com slash random, code random, for 15 % off your first order. Republican. Speaker 1 (10:19) I was the first Republican gay man openly elected to Congress. There's been plenty who were outed, but I ran with that front line. I am gay. Yes. Speaker 2 (10:27) Well, I am not going to even have to fact check that your reputation speaks for itself. If you say you were the first Republican gay man, Speaker 1 (10:36) done. I'll say this. I thought it was Aaron Schockett, but apparently he was outed in office. right former representative from uh what is it illinois yes i'm shock right aaron shock right aaron Speaker 2 (10:50) shock yes remember Speaker 1 (10:51) the downtown the downton abbey the core of his office what about Speaker 2 (10:56) larry craig well he was Speaker 1 (10:57) a set he was also outed senator yes senator they were all outed i came into the fray Hey, I'm gay and I'm a Republican. Here are my values. But Barney Speaker 2 (11:06) Frank did it as a Democrat long before. Oh, no, no. Speaker 1 (11:09) Democrats have been electing the homos for years. They have no issues with it. But for a Republican, it was sort of a glass ceiling. You're right. And I was shocked. When they reported, also my race was the first time in history that the two major party candidates were gay because my opponent was gay. The only thing is, he was 68 and I was 34. By Speaker 2 (11:31) the end of this show, you're going to have me being Speaker 1 (11:33) gay. I think your time and opportunity has come and gone. I don't think you have that Speaker 2 (11:40) risk. I hadn't been on Santa Monica Boulevard here, you know, the famous gay strip. Speaker 1 (11:45) I wouldn't know. They hate me, so I don't go where they are. Come on. You don't know. If I go to West Hollywood, they'll set me on fire. Why? Speaker 2 (11:51) Because you're a Republican? Because I'm Speaker 1 (11:53) Republican. It's California. I Speaker 2 (11:54) fucking hate this about the left. It's not the left. It's the gays. The left are very tolerant of me, believe it or not. But what they hate about you is that they are politically left and they see you as politically right. And that is an intolerable situation for some people. The tolerant Speaker 1 (12:12) left is not very tolerant. That's what Speaker 2 (12:13) I'm saying. That's what I always say. You say that Speaker 1 (12:15) on your show a lot. All the time. That the conservatives are willing to come and take it, but the Dems won't Speaker 2 (12:20) come. I call them out. for it all the time. They just have a terrible attitude about what sort of a monopoly on the truth they have. Yes, Trump is worse than anybody, the Democrat. I get all that. I said all that before all of them did. It doesn't mean the search for truth ends there. That's the beginning of the story. There's a lot that goes on after that, like the 77 million Americans who voted for him. It's like for them, it's like everybody who voted for Trump is Trump. and that's just such a simplistic stupid way to look at the world i agree it well it's just obvious well Speaker 1 (12:54) how about this um it's funny that on my way here today i was like watching stuff on my video on my phone uh in the plane and a video popped up and i i have never seen it and it's crazy because i think i've seen everything from 2016 but it was a michael moore voiceover about the like roundup of 2016. So this is a whole new version of him talking about it. And it's funny because he's like, and they referenced me all through election night because he was alarming throughout the media, if you remember, in 2016, on your show, including saying like, you guys are underestimating Trump. I live Speaker 2 (13:26) in Wisconsin. I hear what Speaker 1 (13:28) these people are going through. I hear what they want. You guys are discounting him. And again, history shows that there was a level of arrogance. I mean. from George Clooney to Nancy Pelosi and all the way through media, just like there's not going to be a Donald Trump president. Well, not only there was a President Trump, there's a two-term President Trump. So Speaker 2 (13:46) you're going to have a hard time, you're saying, in this world of show business because, and you're right, I mean, they used to use this term blacklist, and then they blacklisted the actual term blacklist. I'm serious. These people are out of their minds. And the blacklist was as opposed, or no, the white list. Blacklisting was like from the, you know, in the McCarthy era. People, if you were suspected of being a communist. A whitelist is if you're a conservative in Hollywood. Speaker 1 (14:17) They Speaker 2 (14:17) will either not hire you, not work with you, snub you. There's the writer Taylor Sheridan, the biggest, I think, bestest writer in television today. But he's perceived as... a conservative. It's really not. But, you know, his shows, you know, Yellowstone, they're about America. Not everything takes place, you know, in a fucking magazine office in San Francisco. I Speaker 1 (14:45) mean, a lot can be argued about. Speaker 1 (14:48) The Devil Wears Prada in New York City, right? The most iconic movie in my generation is The Devil Wears Prada, and proof of that is the sequel was just as good as the first one. Speaker 2 (14:58) I'm admitting to say it. Amazing. I Speaker 1 (15:00) will say this. Look, Meryl Streep probably hates me and everything about me, but she's a phenomenal actress, and I'm going to give it to her. I'm not one of them. Exactly. I am conservative. I am very fiscally conservative, but I'm socially liberal. I'm a gay man from New York City, Bill. My conservative values spam from common sense in a sense where we can't spend ourself out of debt. We need to save to get out of debt. And we can't promote, you know, trans surgery for children. Like, those are the things that, like, I don't, I don't, and a lot of people like to say that I voted against gay rights. No, I voted against. about gender transitioning of children. And I stand by that vote. Speaker 2 (15:42) Yeah, and you can stand by that vote. George, I don't think, as a campaign manager here, that this is not the main problem we have. Oh, no, of course not. The main problem is that people think... Well, cheers. Great to talk to you. Cheers. We're just beginning. Speaker 2 (15:59) People think that you lied about your religion, your education, your ancestry. Oh, Speaker 1 (16:05) my Speaker 2 (16:05) education was all bullshit. Your Speaker 1 (16:06) job. Bullshit. Speaker 2 (16:08) Your jobs, your finances. My finances Speaker 1 (16:12) I Speaker 2 (16:12) didn't lie about. Your charity work. And some of your things were so bizarre. Like, why say you went to... colleges when you know they can prove you didn't. Speaker 1 (16:23) So, you know, it's funny, and you've probably heard me say this before your audience probably, that lie started in a controlled environment to impress the GOP party chair. Big college guy. He's a Notre Dame grad, obsessed, refereed for Notre Dame in his older age. And what is his job? He's a GOP chairman on Long Island, Nassau County on Long Island. I need his approval. And this lie comes from – and again, by the way, I worked in the private sector without ever lying about my education. I mean I was very – I worked for four major private equity midsize companies from Met Global, which was a Turkish company, to Linkbridge Investors, which was a startup, and then Harbor City Capital. blew up because the owner decided to go fucking sideways with things. But again, I had no involvement in that. I was an employee. Speaker 2 (17:15) So you were working in finance. Speaker 1 (17:16) I was a private equity capital placement agent, essentially. That's literally what I did. I raised money. That's why I raised so much money for my race, because I'm good at selling. I'm a great salesman. I can sell sand in a desert in a drought. So, well... That was kind of like my... So selling myself to the people wasn't so hard. Speaker 2 (17:37) Okay, but, you know. But you Speaker 1 (17:39) shouldn't lie. And no excuses for it. You Speaker 2 (17:41) went to prison and 28-year-olds think of you as the liar guy. So they're, you know, that's. It's hard to fight the media narrative. Well, I'm a great salesman. Yeah, I mean, Trump obviously has told more lies than all the presidents combined. I don't know that that's true, though. but you do know it's true you know that even his fans say we take him seriously not literally he just you know that he just pulls stuff out of his ass whenever he wants to is it a lie or how about this is it a Speaker 1 (18:14) lie or or it is a strategic like disrupt disruption of the matrix, right? And I'm not making excuses, but I'm going to throw this at you. Try that Speaker 2 (18:26) in a relationship. It Speaker 1 (18:28) doesn't Speaker 2 (18:28) work. Honey, Speaker 1 (18:28) I'm Speaker 2 (18:30) not fucking the cocktail waitress. It's a rupture in the matrix. Speaker 1 (18:35) That's Speaker 2 (18:35) not what I'm saying. Well, this kind of is what you're saying. We're redefining lying now. Speaker 1 (18:39) No, no, I'm not. I'm definitely not going to redefine lying because after my entire experience, I look... Bill, at 37 years old, I ended up three days after my 37th year birthday in federal prison, which was supposed to be an egregious seven-year sentence, which, you know, by the grace of God and President Trump, he commuted me. I'm still a felon. Speaker 2 (19:02) Oh, right. Speaker 1 (19:03) So I'm very lucky. I'm very fortunate. I was given this amazing second chance, right? The point that I always get at with these conversations are, You're not, don't expect me to tell you a lie ever again. And it's like blunt truth and. abrasive Speaker 2 (19:23) i feel like if if this show serves as a new beginning i have done a great service because obviously i see talking to you and it is so different than what you get from through the press everything is filtered through the press i'm an evil person i see you're a nice guy you're you're smart uh you are good at politics you have a very buoyant way about you that i could see why people Speaker 2 (19:46) Be frank, you did lie about things. Oh, no, I did. Okay. September rolls in with that fake New Year energy. Everyone pretends they're getting their life together, buying planners, they'll ghost by Halloween. And in all this resetting, we skip the number one that actually matters. Try 120 Life, a once-a-day functional drink with ingredients that support healthy blood pressure. It's simple. Drink it daily, check your numbers, see if it's working. Many people notice improvement in as little as two weeks. And if your numbers don't budge, you get your money back. No hoops, no awkward emails, no fine print. Tastes great. Made from a blend of superfruit juices and the powdered version has just one gram of sugar. Smart if you're watching Blood Sugar 2. Go to 120life.com. That is 120life.com. and use my code RANDOM for 20 % off. Try it risk-free for two weeks. If your blood pressure doesn't come down, you get a full refund. Go to 120life.com and use the code RANDOM to save 20%. Don't guess. Start measuring. Nothing to lose except higher blood pressure numbers. Go to 120life.com and use my code RANDOM for 20 % off. Use code RANDOM today. These statements have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Speaker 1 (21:20) I admit that. Speaker 2 (21:22) It's a great deal of shame. What about the cats one where you neutered like 3,000 cats? That was so specific. By the way, Speaker 1 (21:30) so true story. You cut Speaker 2 (21:31) the Speaker 1 (21:32) balls off Speaker 2 (21:32) cats. Speaker 1 (21:32) No, no. So that's actually a true statement. We were able to prove that one, luckily. I was part of a program for TNR, Trap, Neuter, Release, just to reduce. Trap, Neuter, Release. That's what it Speaker 2 (21:44) is. Speaker 1 (21:45) It's an ASPCA. Get Speaker 2 (21:46) rid of Speaker 1 (21:46) traps. No, you put traps out. Get street cats, right? Sparrow Speaker 2 (21:52) cats. Speaker 1 (21:52) Without killing Speaker 2 (21:53)