A Republican US congressman accused of falsifying his resumé has denied claims he performed as a drag queen in Brazil. New York Republican Representative George Santos, first elected in last November's mid-term elections, denied the fresh allegation on Wednesday.
"The most recent obsession from the media claiming that I am a drag Queen or 'performed' as a drag Queen is categorically false," Santos tweeted.
"The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life while I am working to deliver results. I will not be distracted nor fazed by this," he insisted.
But journalist Ian Miles Cheong replied with a photo of the congressman next to a drag queen bearing a remarkable likeness to him, insisting they were one and the same and that Santos was lying.
Journalist Ian Miles Cheong tweets pictures of Republican New York Congressman George Santos (right) and a Barzilian drag queen he says are one and the same
Santos' victory over Democrat Robert Zimmerman in New York's Third Congressional District — which includes part of the borough of Queens — in 2022 was lauded in the media as the first such contest between two openly gay candidates.
But he is already facing a federal investigation over claims of campaign finance irregularities, which could see him lose his seat. Meanwhile, New York's Nassau County, where his district is based, is probing allegedly false claims he made about his background in order to secure the Republican nomination.
34-year-old Santos' alleged false assertions include that he had played for his university volleyball team, run an animal rescue charity and been a Wall Street financier. He also claimed to have Jewish grandparents who survived the Nazi Holocaust.
Santos, the son of Brazilian immigrants, lived for a while in the South American nation but returned to the US while under investigation on a cheque fraud case. He worked at a call centre in New York before moving to Florida and taking jobs at a succession of firms. One of those was Harbor City Capital, which was later taken to court by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly running a $17 million Ponzi scheme.