George Santos clashes with CNN's Dana Bash over claim Trump gave him 'favorable treatment'

WASHINGTON, DC: Newly freed former Republican congressman George Santos pushed back sharply against a CNN host's question, which suggested that President Donald Trump had given him "favorable treatment."

He argued that critics would always complain, even if Trump had pardoned “Jesus Christ off the cross” and took a dig at former President Joe Biden for pardoning his family members before leaving office. 

While announcing that he had commuted Santos' sentence, Trump noted the former congressman's willingness to "always vote Republican" while calling him "somewhat of a rogue," leading to accusations of blatant partisan favoritism. 

George Santos defends Trump's commutation

"There are a lot of people who are really unhappy about your commutation because they see it as President Trump giving favorable treatment to you because you’re a loyal ally of his," CNN's Dana Bash told George Santos on ‘State of the Union’ on Sunday, October 19. 

"You know what?" Santos replied. "I say this, and I hate that we have to go down this road. And then there’s a lot of people who were upset with President Biden, who pardoned his entire family before he left office in an unprecedented move. 

"So pardon me if I’m not paying too much attention to the pearl-clutching of the outrage of my critics and of the people, predominantly on the left, who are going to go out there and try to make a big deal out of something like this," he added. 

Highlighting the former president's move of pardoning his embattled son Hunter Biden after previously promising he wouldn't, Santos took a dig at the Democrat, saying, "I didn't see outrage," before Bash quickly cut in, noting there was sharp criticism of the former president for breaking his pledge.

"There was some outrage because there was a lot of people literally licking their wounds, because they had said, ‘You see, he’s magnanimous, and he’s not going to do it. He’s all about the right thing.’ So he lied," Santos said. "So I’m not going to debate this… Look, there’s always going to be critics. People are going to like me. People are going to hate me. It doesn’t matter whoever gets clemency in the future, or whoever that person might be."

"I’m pretty confident if President Trump had pardoned Jesus Christ off the cross, he would have had critics. So that’s just the reality of our country," Santos concluded. 

George Santos was sentenced on fraud and theft charges  

The disgraced former New York lawmaker began serving a seven-year prison sentence earlier this year after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. He also admitted to embellishing or outright fabricating large parts of his resume and life story.

According to the DOJ, Santos made unauthorized charges to cover both campaign and personal expenses from stolen donor credit card information, including those from "victims he knew were elderly persons suffering from cognitive impairment or decline."

He also reportedly ran a fake political fundraising company, collecting tens of thousands of dollars, which he spent on designer clothing.