Air Rage

George Santos and the Airing of Grievances—Especially the TSA 

The ousted congressman has been brought to his breaking point by holiday air travel.
Former Congressman George Santos
Former US Representative George Santos of New York talks to reporters outside the US Capitol on November 30, 2023 in Washington, DC.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Though ousted congressman George Santos recently claimed that he's making $80,000 a day via his new video messaging business, it appears that the serial fabulist and alleged federal criminal hasn't forgotten that some of his fans can't afford the $500 he charges for a custom piece of content. The disgraced New Yorker continues to have an active selfie-based presence on X (formerly Twitter), where he most recently did what we all do on X this time of year: He ranted about the indignities of air travel.

But in Santos's case, his beef wasn't with delays or a stale packet of complimentary Sun Chips,. Instead, he began with the “nightmare” he experiences when his name is improperly displayed on his boarding pass.

“So, like everyone knows, I'm a big Delta Airlines guy,” Santos begins. “But after this new revelation that people literally with no name, no ID is printed and allowed on their boarding pass—meanwhile, because my name is long, George Anthony Devolder Santos, that if–God forbid–it's not in the format on how I registered my SkyMiles, and it's just ‘George Santos,’ it becomes a mismatch, it's a nightmare.”

Addressing Delta's CEO, Santos continued, “I want to ask Ed Bastian, somebody who up until recently I thought was a pretty good CEO, handled COVID well, did very good with his employees, what gives, Ed? You have a very good reputation as one of the airline CEOs, but this is bullshit."

“This is bullshit” is likely what you're thinking at this point, but not for the reason Santos seems to intend. His confusing remarks, the Daily Beast surmises, are a reiteration of claims made by right-wing commentator Ashley St. Clair that migrants to the US travel on Delta flights. (As noted by the Daily Mail, those claims have not been confirmed.)

“How ‘bout you tell us how many people you’ve transported under this ‘no name, no ID given.' And why is TSA allowing undocumented, unidentified people to travel alongside us in airlines? This is a fucking crime. Who is going to do something?"

Santos appears unaware of the irony that a person who faces 23 criminal counts of crimes like wire fraud and conspiracy is now claiming that the transport of passengers is “a fucking crime.” Then again, has he ever seemed like he is in on the joke?

After calling Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (the Republican who officially introduced the resolution to expel Santos) a “meatball” (I'll admit it, I laughed), Santos really wound himself up, saying “Congress is a joke, security is a joke, our Homeland Security is falling apart.”

“We need to revamp all, not just some, but all of government at this point,” Santos said, abruptly ending the video

While it's unlikely Santos will have a place in the current, or any sort of revamped government (but who knows!), we certainly haven't heard the last of him. Though he has claimed he is innocent of the federal charges he faces, recent court filings suggest a plea deal is in the works

Until then, his monied fans will still have Cameo—where Santos will, blessedly, read a script penned by the purchaser. The rest of us will have to settle for X, where Santos is unlikely to be banned, and his impromptu messages from the heart will be presented just as coherently as the one we saw this week.