US Rep. Santos was a drag queen in Brazil, friends say

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US Representative George Santos was a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants 15 years ago, two sources told Reuters on Wednesday, adding to the Republican congressman's pile of secrets. 

The embattled freshman congressman has faced criticism and calls from fellow New York Republicans to step down over fabrications about his career and history.

The congressman's old friend, a 58-year-old Brazilian drag performer who uses the drag name Eula Rochard, said he befriended him during a parade in Niteroi, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro in 2005.

She added that Santos then competed in a drag beauty pageant three years later. 

NEW: I just spoke by phone with Eula Rochard, a Brazilian drag queen who was friends with George Santos when he lived near Rio. She said everyone knew him as Anthony (*never* George), or by his drag name, Kitara, and confirms this photo is from a 2008 drag show at Icaraí Beach. pic.twitter.com/1MeeDR1O2O

— Marisa Kabas (@MarisaKabas) January 18, 2023

Another acquaintance who knew the congressman said that he participated in drag queen beauty pageants and dreamed to be "Miss Gay Rio de Janeiro."

The first gay "conservative" Republican won a House seat in Congress as a non-incumbent and has positioned himself as a staunch conservative on many social issues.

Republicans denounce drag shows and performers, claiming they are harmful to children.

Santos won't step down

Santos has been criticized by fellow Republicans who are calling on him to resign after he admitted to lying about his resume. He fabricated key details of his life including his education, work experience, and even his religion and ancestry.

Both Democrats and Republicans asked him to step down after he admitted to lying on his resume, but despite the backlash, the lawmaker has refused to stand down - at least not until every last of the 142,000 voters calls on him to step down. 

He confessed that he had lied about his education and job history during the campaign. The representative-elect declared that it wouldn't prevent him from serving his two-year tenure in congress.

Moreover, Santos claimed that his ancestors arrived in Belgium as Ukrainian refugees after his grandparents fled the Holocaust.

From his end, however, Santos explained “I never claimed to be Jewish,” adding that “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”