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Disgraced congressman-elect Jorge Santos seems to be the headline gift that keeps on giving — and this time, he can raise eyebrows from his well-worn views of basically everything in his life, travel expenses to the Kardashians, let it be.
It is not uncommon for elected officials to incur large travel expenses. no i don’t. More jets were fired up hopping around DC and more first class was snapped up as members of Congress in the United States headed home to “constituencies” across the country.
What’s unusual is that the local official spent a lot of money to travel across the country, including $14,000 in restaurant tabs and $70,000 in airfare and hotels. Santos appears to be telling other US lawmakers to hold their beer as new light is being shed on campaign spending as they are about to be sworn in as members of Congress.
And surely, if he was as rich and successful as he claimed, he would be able to spend his own personal funds on travel outside of the interests of his constituency, right?
George Santos spent $70,000 on the trip.
Let’s start with a little context on the typical travel expenses of other local congressmen to appear from apple to apple in 2022.
Newly elected Republican Congressman Nick LaLotta of Long Island spent a total of $800 on hotels and $3,000 on airfare. It is unreasonable for campaign consultants to be brought in from elsewhere and they certainly need some sort of accommodation.
This makes the direct comparison to the $70,000 for disgraced George Santos — who may have lied that his mother died on 9/11, enough to make any New Yorker want to scream — all the more interesting.
Santos spent $40,000 on airfare and $30,000 on hotels and Airbnb to run a local campaign based in New York, the only audience that “matters.”
According to a New York Times study and report, Santos has options when it comes to hotel stays. Santos has partnered with Hilton and Hyatt and GSTP. He can attain high status by taking benefits.
Mr. Santos’ $30,000 in campaign spending on hotels and Airbnb includes stays in Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, Florida, California, Kansas, Michigan, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and himself in New York.
New York Times
Santos isn’t sworn in (yet), so he doesn’t even need to travel to DC much these days. Of course, for a trip to the office, go for it – but all these others? There are also reports that Santos used campaign funds to rent a house for himself.
VIP benefits?
At the cost of $40,000 to the airline, Santos would have cleared the barriers to Diamond Medallion access with Delta, helping with future upgrades. According to The New York Post, $38,000 of the $40,000 airline cost went to Delta.
I’d love to know that Santos got Delta’s secret 360° VIP status, but given the benefits of last year’s airfare, I doubt $38,000 will be enough.
Hopefully, he doesn’t end up reaping these new travel benefits, as he sits at equally expensive, but slightly “free” accommodations to fool the good people of Strong Island.
GSPP doesn’t normally get into pop-culture travel BS, but as a New Yorker who spent his life on Long Island, I was inspired! In terms of politics, We cannot have a truly functioning country or democracy when every key detail from education to professional life and other relevant details are blatantly lied to.
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