The disgraced lawmaker George Santos is reportedly making six figures by selling videos on the platform Cameo, generating more income than his previous salary as a US congressman, Semafor first reported.
Santos, a former Republican representative from New York state, was expelled from Congress last Friday following a blistering ethics report that detailed his misuse of campaign funds.
Since his removal, Santos has been publishing videos on Cameo, a website that allows users to purchase personalized videos from celebrities. The disgraced congressman has drastically increased the price of his videos, now selling them for $400 a pop from his initial $75-per-video price point.
Santos’s appearance on the platform has reportedly been one of the strongest debuts for a celebrity on Cameo, with Cameo’s CEO, Steven Galanis, telling Semafor that the 35-year-old “is going to be an absolute whale”.
“Sarah Jessica Parker, Bon Jovi – he’s putting numbers up like that,” Galanis said to Semafor.
A representative from Cameo could not be reached by the Guardian.
In one Cameo video, Santos wishes “happy holidays” to the general elections group at the app Whatsapp.
“Here’s to a season filled with more joy and fewer factchecks. May your festivities be as genuine as my campaign promises,” Santos said, emphasizing that he did keep his campaign promises.
In another, Santos tells an NYU student named “Harper” to finish their final papers before blowing off steam.
“Don’t go out, don’t go partying, don’t go have fun. Just finish the damn papers,” Santos said.
On Tuesday, Santos briefly paused making videos on Cameo to catch up with high demand, he announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Santos has already sold Cameo videos to high-ranking officials. The Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman bought a Cameo video from Santos in “support” of the New Jersey senator Bob Menendez, who faces federal bribery and extortion charges.
In the video, later published to social media, Santos tells Menendez to “stay strong” amid his legal woes.
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“I don’t think I need to tell you, but these people who want to make you get in trouble and want to kick you out and make you run away, you make them put up or shut up. You stand your ground, sir, and don’t get bogged down by all the haters out there,” Santos says in the video.
Santos later said he did not know that he was making a video for Senator Menendez, but found the entire premise hilarious.
The Nebraska state senator Megan Hunt also received a Cameo video from Santos as a gift and published it to X, before emphasizing that Santos “is a transphobic fool who has defrauded and harmed people” on X.
Many on social media were critical of Hunt for publishing the Cameo and others who are buying videos from Santos, especially as the ex-lawmaker still faces 23 federal criminal counts, including wire fraud and identity theft.
“You could try not promoting him,” said on user on X in response to Hunt’s post of Santos’s Cameo.
“[Take] the post down, don’t amplify him,” read another reply to Hunt’s post.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
