George Santos, One Week Away From Claiming to Be Ronald Reagan’s Biological Son, Says He “Will NOT Resign!”

Republicans have long been known for tolerating all kinds of shameful behavior from their members—including but not limited to creating a video depicting their Democratic colleague’s murder and inciting a literal insurrection. So it was little surprise when the revelation that newly elected representative George Santos had fabricated large swaths of his biography—and potentially broke campaign finance laws while running for office—was met with both shrugs and actual defenses of his lies. And while GOP leadership has suggested it won’t be doing a thing about any of this short of a private talking-to, New York Republicans have other ideas.

In a major plot twist given the GOP’s long history of heartily welcoming the worst of the worst to its ranks, the Nassau County Republican Committee demanded Santos’s “immediate resignation” on Wednesday, citing his “campaign of deceit, lies, and fabrication.” Speaking from party headquarters, chairman Joseph Cairo that Santos “deceived” the voters, members of the Nassau County Republican Committee, elected officials, some of the media, and his opponents. “He has no place in the Nassau County Republican Committee, nor should he serve in public service nor as an elected official,” Cairo said. “He’s not welcome here at Republican headquarters for meetings or at any of our events. As I said, he’s disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople.”

Naturally, given Santos’s capacity for shame, which is pretty much a prerequisite for being able to make up large portions of your résumé—as well as falsely claim your grandparents fled the Holocaust and that your mother died because of 9/11, among other things—he has met the calls for his resignation with total defiance.

Later on Twitter, he doubled down, writing “I will NOT resign!” and that “I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians.” Though, as some have pointed out, he was elected by people who thought he was an entirely different person.

On Wednesday, while calling for Santos to quit, Nassau County’s Cairo revealed that the newly sworn-in congressman had also told him he was the star volleyball player at a college he did not even attend.