George Santos fired back at critics of his presidential pardon during his first television appearance since leaving prison.
The 37-year-old former congressman joined CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Oct. 19, to discuss President Donald Trump’s decision to commute his sentence just two days earlier.
“People are going to hate me,” Santos told anchor Dana Bash. “It doesn’t matter whoever gets clemency in the future, whoever that person might be. I’m pretty confident that if President Trump had pardoned Jesus Christ off of the cross, he would have had critics.”
He added, “That’s just the reality of our country.”
The ex-lawmaker claimed he received “a seven-year disproportionate sentence that is anything but political if you talk to anybody who really looks at these kinds of cases.”
According to ABC7, Santos also said, “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.”
Defending Trump’s use of executive clemency, he said, “It is known that presidents have the power of the pardon and clemency, which are plenary, and they’re extended at their will.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(753x172:755x174):format(webp)/George-Santos-arrives-at-federal-court-in-Central-Islip-New-York-042525-5d4fce23d16a46fd891f9608de3a6e10.jpg)
Santos was convicted in August 2024 on 23 counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution. The former New York representative was expelled from Congress after his 2023 indictment and began serving his sentence at a federal facility in New Jersey on July 25 — less than three months before his release.
A copy of his clemency grant, posted on X by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin Jr., stated that Santos received “an immediate commutation of his entire sentence to time served, with no further fines, restitution, probations, supervised release, or other conditions.”
When asked by CNN if he planned to repay his victims, Santos replied that he would “do my best to do whatever the law requires of me.”
Trump, 79, announced the commutation on Truth Social on Friday, Oct. 17, writing that he had “just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”
The president claimed Santos had endured “solitary confinement for long stretches of time” and been “horribly mistreated.” Trump ended the post with a message of support: “Good luck George, have a great life!”
