Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Santos posted offensive remark about the Holocaust and made jokes about Jewish stereotypes, according to new report

‘He’d always say that it was okay for him to make those jokes because he was Jewish,’ Santos’ former roommate said

Rep. George Santos of New York, who has come under fire for lying about having Jewish grandparents who fled persecution during World War II, reportedly made offensive comments about the Holocaust and Jews in social media posts before he ran for office. 

Patch published Thursday — a day before the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day — social media posts from the congressman’s now-deleted Instagram and Facebook accounts as well as comments that include offensive and racist remarks — including a suggestion that Jews and Blacks would take revenge on people who make Hitler jokes.

In a March 2011 comment, a screenshot of which was submitted to the Long Island publication by a former friend, Santos commented on a photo shared by a Facebook friend which shows a person making a military salute with the caption “something like Hitler” with the following: “hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler) lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! the jews and black mostly lolllolol!!! Dum.”

Santos, a Republican who was elected in November to represent parts of New York’s Nassau County, is under federal investigation for fabricating key details of his resume and for possible campaign finance violations, and could face a House ethics probe for a web of lies during the campaign. Among them, Santos claimed to have Jewish grandparents who fled Belgium during the Holocaust and called himself a “proud American Jew” in outreach to Jewish voters.

Gregory Morey-Parker, a former roommate and friend of Santos, told Patch that Santos would frequently make offensive jokes about Jews, in particular when it came to paying the bill at restaurants. “He’d always say that it was okay for him to make those jokes because he was Jewish,” Morey-Parker said.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Santos has an outstanding bill from an Italian restaurant in Queens for $18,773.54.

A spokesperson for Santos didn’t immediately respond about whether Santos will attend any of the events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.