Rep. George Santos compares himself to Rosa Parks

“It’s a slap in the face to Black people,” said Ameshia Cross, a Democratic strategist.

Jul 10, 2023

U.S. Rep. George Santos is getting slammed for comparing himself to civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

Over the weekend, Santos, R-N.Y., spoke with conservative talk show host Mike Crispi during a podcast episode and compared a conversation he had with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, to the racism that Parks encountered as a Black passenger in the 1950s when she was told to surrender her seat and move to the back of the bus.

Rep. George Santos heads to a GOP caucus meeting at the Capitol in January. He said over the weekend that advice he got from a fellow Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney, was akin to Rosa Parks’ being told to move to the back of the bus. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“Mitt Romney…tells me a Latino gay man that I shouldn’t sit in the front that I should be in the back,” said the congressman.

“Well guess what? Rosa Parks didn’t sit in the back and neither am I going to sit in the back. That’s just the reality of how it works. Mitt Romney lives in a different world and he needs to buckle up because it’s going to be a bumpy ride for him,” he continued.

Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross told theGrio that Santos’ remarks were “Insulting, especially coming off of last week’s ending of affirmative action…it’s a slap in the face to Black people.”

“Rosa Parks was actually attacked and by law it was justified at the time because of the Jim Crow laws. Parks’ refusal to sit in the back of the bus surged the entire civil rights movement,” she said.

“For Santos to use that in such a disrespectful way just because he doesn’t want to face the music for the crimes he committed, I think it’s grotesque and it also goes to show where our nation is,” she continued.

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The exchange between Romney and Santos took place ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in February. Due to a pending ethics complaint against Santos, Romney reportedly told Santos that he needed to sit in the back and remain quiet during the president’s speech.

Cross told theGrio that Santos’ remarks “show how far the Republican Party has extended to bastardizing our civil rights leaders.”

She stated that Republicans tend to often misquote civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to rewrite history.

“There hasn’t been a Republican leader who has not misdirected Martin Luther King’s quote from his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech … not by the color of your skin, but the content of your character,” she said.

A copy of Rosa Parks’ photo from her 1955 arrest in Montgomery, Alabama, is shown during a memorial service for the civil rights icon in 2005. She was arrested for refusing to yield her seat to a white passenger and move to the back of the bus. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., seems to think he was treated similarly. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“They used it in the fight against affirmative action. They’ve used it in the fight against voting rights. They’ve used it in the fight to upend every redress to racial disparities in this country,” she continued.

In May, the Department of Justice unsealed a 13-count indictment charging Santos with fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements. He faces up to 20 years behind bars if found guilty.

While Democrats have been vocal in urging Santos’ ouster from Congress, many members of the GOP have been slow to condemn Santos.

Cross said she does not believe his latest comments are “going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for Republicans when it comes to removing him from office.”

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