Beleaguered Rep. George Santos appears to be trying to grab even more attention

 

Beleaguered¹ Rep. George Santos appears to be trying to grab even more attention

Transcript²

Republicans are urging Rep. George Santos to lie low while investigations³ play out into his lies and his campaign finances, but the freshman⁴ Republican from New York is keeping a high profile.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

Republicans are urging Congressman⁵ George Santos to keep his head down while ethics⁶ probes and investigations play out. But the freshman from New York who was caught lying about his resume and his personal life is refusing to comply. Instead, Santos is punching back and now appears to be trying to grab even more attention. NPR's Brian Mann reports.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE⁷: When Senator Mitt⁸ Romney of Utah entered the House last week for the State of the Union speech, he found himself face to face with George Santos. The scandal-plagued freshman from Long Island had positioned himself front and center in the crowd.

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MITT ROMNEY: He was standing⁹ right there in the aisle¹⁰ shaking hands with everybody.

MANN: Romney was outraged¹¹ and told reporters later he scolded Santos and told him he should resign.

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ROMNEY: But he shouldn't be there. And if he had any shame at all, he wouldn't be there.

MANN: Only, George Santos is refusing to fade back. He actually seems to be leveraging¹² his notoriety, appearing on conservative news outlets¹³ and trolling other Republicans on social media. Congressman Nick Lalota, a Republican who represents a neighboring district in New York, vented¹⁴ his party's frustration¹⁵ during an appearance on CNN.

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NICK LALOTA: He's a sociopath, George Santos. He looks for that attention. Even the negative attention drives him. It's become an embarrassment¹⁶ and a distraction¹⁷ to the Republicans in the House. And every time I have to come to something like this and talk about George Santos, I can't talk about what Republicans ought to be doing instead.

MANN: David Wasserman covers the House for the Cook Political Report. He says Santos is following a political playbook in the Trump¹⁸ era - one where politicians don't back down.

DAVID WASSERMAN: Donald Trump realized shamelessness can pay off politically. We've seen others follow in his footsteps. Now, of course, this is to an unprecedented¹⁹ degree.

MANN: Unprecedented because Santos fabricated his entire professional resume and invented a fictional²⁰ life story that involved the Holocaust²¹, 9/11, the Pulse nightclub shooting. He's no longer serving on his two House committees, and he now faces multiple investigations, including a probe by the Nassau County district attorney in New York, herself a Republican. But Wasserman says, even facing all this pressure, Santos has no incentive²² to stay quiet.

WASSERMAN: George Santos isn't someone who's going to take direction from the elder statesmen of the Republican Party. His ability to stay in the news and draw attention to himself is really the only thing he has left.

MANN: Most of the controversy²³ surrounding Santos involves things he allegedly did before he was elected in November. There are big questions about where he got hundreds of thousands of dollars that funded his campaign. But Santos, who hasn't responded to NPR's requests for an interview, faced a new scandal last week. A former volunteer in his congressional office filed a complaint with Capitol Police, accusing the congressman of sexual misconduct, an allegation Santos has denied. House Democrats²⁴ hoping to keep Santos' troubles front and center introduced a resolution last week to expel him from office. Here's Congresswoman Becca Balint from Vermont.

BECCA BALINT: As a proud member of the LGBTQ community, outraged that he lied about the Pulse nightclub shooting - as the granddaughter of someone killed in the Holocaust, outraged that he used that to get elected. And, you know, I didn't - never thought I'd say this, but I stand with Mitt Romney. He has to go.

MANN: But that measure would require a two-thirds vote from House members, and no one thinks that's likely to happen. Everyone interviewed for this story said they believe Santos will keep his job and his megaphone, at least until voters get another crack at him in 2024. Congresswoman Nancy Mace²⁵, a Republican from South Carolina, joked about her party's Santos problem at last week's Washington Press Club dinner.

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NANCY MACE: But Santos certainly gets attention. There hasn't been a Republican that's gotten this much buzz since Lauren Boebert went through a metal detector²⁶.

MANN: Republicans could pay a price for Santos' attention grabbing. The GOP did well in New York during the midterms. But with Santos in the spotlight²⁷, several GOP seats, including his own, could be vulnerable in 2024.

Brian Mann, NPR News.

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1 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

4 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

11 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

12 leveraging   

促使…改变( leverage的现在分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• De-leveraging is a painful process: it has barely begun. 去杠杆化是个痛苦的过程：它才刚刚开始。
• Archimedes said, saying: Give me a fulcrum, I can leveraging the Earth. 阿基米德说过一句话：给我一个支点，我可以撬动地球。

13 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 vented   

表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He vented his frustration on his wife. 他受到挫折却把气发泄到妻子身上。
• He vented his anger on his secretary. 他朝秘书发泄怒气。

15 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

16 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

17 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

18 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

19 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

20 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

21 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

22 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

23 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

24 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 mace   

n.狼牙棒，豆蔻干皮

参考例句：

• The sword and mace were favourite weapons for hand-to-hand fighting.剑和狼牙棒是肉搏战的最佳武器。
• She put some mace into the meat.她往肉里加了一些肉豆蔻干皮。

26 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

27 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。