Before the now former Rep. George Santos gets together with Ziwe for that interview he promised her, he sat down with CBS New York to clear the air on a few subjects—namely, corruption in Congress, the “very serious” federal charges he’s facing, and, most importantly, how much money he’s making on Cameo these days.
“I can tell you that by the end of this week—that is actually factual—I will have made more money in seven days than I would have made [in] an entire year in Congress,” the expelled congressman told The Point host Marcia Kramer in an interview segment that aired on Sunday.
Countering that the congressional salary is $174,000 a year, Kramer asked Santos to confirm his previous statement. “So you’re saying that, in a week, you will make that salary?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Santos said.
“I guess you have a lot of legal bills of pay,” Kramer deadpanned.
A Sunday report from Page Six appeared to back up Santos’ far-fetched claim. A source who attended a Republican bash at Beach Café in New York City on Saturday night told the tabloid that Santos had been boasting to other party guests that “he took 140 orders yesterday at $599 per order,” on Cameo. Per Page Six’s number-crunching, that clocks in at $83,860 in one day.
“Now,” the source cautioned, “it’s George telling people this, so…”
With that grain of salt taken, Santos also told Kramer that the idea to start a Cameo account was originally given to him by a former staffer for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-NY).
“He reached out and says, ‘George, you have such a large personality, people love you,’” Santos recounted. “You should just open a Cameo. I’m like, what’s a Cameo? So I looked into it.”
Upon joining the platform, where celebrities, athletes, and 15-minutes-of-famers hawk personalized videos for a fee, Santos began selling his recorded messages for $75 a pop. As of Sunday night, the price was officially fixed on his page—which identifies him as a “Former congressional ‘Icon’!” with a nail-painting emoji—at $500 per video.
“Haters are gonna hate,” Santos said in his first Cameo clip to go viral online. “And if you have haters, that means you’re doing something right, girl!”
Santos told Semafor earlier this week that he made more from Cameo than his annual congressional income in the first 48 hours after joining the app. “Obviously there’s a monetary benefit—I’m not here doing it for charity—but the other aspect is to remind these assholes who think they’re holier-than-thou that they will be forgotten in history and I will live forever, period,” Santos said.
Screenshots and Cameo CEO Steven Galanis confirmed as much to the outlet, with the executive calling Santos “an absolute whale.”
“Sarah Jessica Parker, Bon Jovi—he’s putting numbers up like that,” Galanis added.
Semafor was also the first to report that a McCarthy staffer had suggested Santos start a Cameo account.
Santos also told Kramer on Sunday that he remains unashamed of the era now fast receding in his rearview mirror.
“I feel like everything I stood for—I’m so proud of the legacy I leave behind, even with the short 11-month term that I served,” he said. “I feel like every vote I took I can stand by and I can defend, and I’m proud of that. But regrets, plenty. Like, there’s always regrets, right.”
The former lawmaker acknowledged that he has “a long road to redemption ahead,” but remained defiantly optimistic about his chances of getting back in the American public’s good graces.
“I think America is a very forgiving country,” he said, “and I’m going to work hard for that forgiveness.”