Embattled freshman Congressman George Santos, R-N.Y., has extended an invitation to a former firefighter who assisted in rescue operations on 9/11 to accompany him to the State of the Union address.
According to the Hill, Santos said he had invited Michael Weinstock, who ran as a Democrat for Santos' House seat.
Weinstock told the The New York Times that he had lost his job as a result of accepting Santos' sole invitation to the State of the Union.
The reason for accepting: As a firefighter from 1990 to 2001, Weinstock told the Times he acquired a neurological condition brought about by inhaling pollutants from the debris at the World Trade Center.
He said to the Times he is "cautiously optimistic" that he would draw attention to the "issue of 9/11 responders receiving the health care that they need."
Santos has been under intense scrutiny by both parties over falsifying his work experience, education, and personal life. One claim, detailed in the Times, includes his mother being in the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11, but per immigration records, she was not in the Unoted States for that year.
In a tweet from July, 2021, Santos said 9/11 "claimed" his mother, but later posted in December commemorating the five-year anniversary of her passing.
Santos said he never intended to say his mother was killed in the World Trade Center, but rather she succumbed to cancer following the attacks.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.