George Santos in hot soup for saying 9/11 attacks ‘claimed my mother’s life’

New York Rep-elect George Santos finds himself caught in yet another fallacy about his family and life. After he acknowledged that he lied on his resume, Santos found himself in hot soup over claims that he had a Jewish heritage. The latest in a string of inconsistent claims by him is the death of his mother.

During his congressional campaign, Santos often reflected on his mother Fatima Devolder's work ethic and how she survived the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. But different tweets by him in 2001 have brought to the fore conflicting accounts about his mother's death.

Journalist Yashar Ali on Wednesday mentioned two separate tweets by Santos in 2021 that seem to suggest that Devolder died at different times. In July 2021, replying to a Twitter handle named "9/11 was a victimless crime", Santos wrote, "9/11 claimed my mothers life … so I’m blocking so I don’t ever have to read this again."

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Then in December the same year, Santos tweeted a tribute to his mother, saying, "December 23rd this year marks 5 years I lost my best friend and mentor. Mom you will live forever in my heart."

Santos's campaign site says, “George’s mother was in her office in the South Tower on September 11, 2001, when the horrific events of that day unfolded." However, she did not die on the day. “She survived the tragic events on September 11th, but she passed away a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer,” the campaign website reads.

An obituary confirms that Devolder died on December 23, 2016, a day after celebrating her 54th birthday.

In an interview to BizTV during the campaign, the video of which was posted on Twitter Thursday, Santos can be heard saying, “I get emotional. My parents were both down there the day of the attacks and fortunately none of them passed.”

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly (R) has announced an investigation into Santos following “the numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated” with him.

Earlier, Santos told WABC radio and the New York Post that he had fabricated certain items on his resume. Talking about his past employment, Santos said that he has never worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs directly. He also admitted to never having graduated from any college or university.

Later, the Republican Jewish Coalition said that Santos misled people about his ties to the faith, which is why he is not welcome at the group's future events. Santos's campaign site says that his mother was Jewish and his grandparents survived the holocaust as Ukrainian Jewish refugees from Belgium by changing their surname during World War II.

(With inputs from agencies)

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