QUEENS, NY — Years ago, embattled Long Island Rep. George Santos commented on a Facebook post with what appear to be intended-jokes about Hitler, a phrase that appears to salute Hitler and observations about "the Jews and black[s]," exclusive screenshots obtained by Patch show.
Santos, under fire from Nassau County Republicans and Jewish Republican groups for exploiting claimed Jewish heritage, including a story of grandparents he said fled the Holocaust, has a history of questionable and racially-charged social media posting and comments, former friends of the congressman told Patch. Patch's review of Santos' deleted Instagram and Facebook posts and comments and GoFundMe campaigns reveal a shifting and complicated relationship to racial and ethnic identity.
Earlier this month, Nassau County Republican leaders called for Santos to resign, citing his lies about his resume and background as a descendant of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Santos described himself as Jewish several times during his campaign for the 3rd Congressional District seat, but researchers at multiple news outlets failed to discover any evidence of Jewish heritage, and reported that his grandparents were born in Brazil, and did not flee persecution in Europe, as Santos claimed.
In March 2011, Santos commented on a photo shared by a Facebook friend which shows someone making what appears to be a military salute with the caption “something like Hitler.” In his comment, Santos writes [sic]:
"hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler)
lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! the jews and black mostly lolllolol!!! Dum"
Patch obtained an image of the comment from a former friend of the congressman who was Facebook friends with the person who posted the photo that Santos commented under. That person declined to be named because they feared professional retribution.
The former friend took a screenshot of the 2011 comment, telling Patch they remembered seeing what they felt was an offensive comment years ago after Santos claimed he was a part-Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors.
Santos, who is under fire for fabricating his background and is the subject of multiple criminal investigations and ethics complaints, deleted his personal Facebook in late December 2022. His account was over a decade old, and screenshots and shared posts from 10 former friends and acquaintances show the evolution of Santos' social media identity, as his Facebook profile name morphed from Anthony Devolder into George A D Santos.
The person who posted the picture that sparked Santos' comment confirmed to Patch that it was their account and gave permission for Patch to publish it. Patch also verified through another former friend, Gregory Morey-Parker, that the original Facebook post under which Santos wrote the Hitler comment existed.
Santos' attorney Joseph Murray told Patch in an email that "the Facebook comment that you reference...is completely false, absolutely disgusting — There is absolutely nothing to talk about."
Oren Segal is the vice president of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League. Segal told Patch that while intent can be tricky to ascribe in social media posts, "it’s clear that this would be deeply offensive and an affront to the Jewish community."
"Joking about Hitler is clearly offensive for anyone," he said, "but it’s especially offensive from someone who lied about his Jewish heritage and having family members that fled the Holocaust."
Segal also pointed out that what seems to be Santos' suggestion that only Jewish and Black people would be offended by Nazi and Hitler jokes adds another problematic layer to his comments.
Morey-Parker, a former roommate and friend of Santos, told Patch that Santos would frequently make what he said were offensive jokes, usually around the subject of paying the bill at restaurants, "but he brushed it off saying he was Jewish."
"He'd always say that it was okay for him to make those jokes because he was Jewish."
Last month, after multiple reports called Santos' claims of Jewish heritage into question, he told the New York Post that he never claimed to be Jewish.
"Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was 'Jew-ish'," he told the Post.
Morey-Parker told CNN's Anderson Cooper that Santos, who was primarily known as Anthony Devolder to his friends for years, also used the moniker Anthony Zabrovsky, because Santos told him "the Jews will give more if you're a Jew."
Patch has located a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for a dog named Zizi made under the name Anthony Zabrovsky in 2015 shared across Facebook animal rescue groups like Queens Lost & Found Pets. Those posts link to a GoFundMe with the organizer listed as George D Santos, possibly indicating Santos changed the name associated with that GoFundMe account.
Patch also obtained multiple social media posts from former friends showing Santos used Anthony Zabrovsky as his name on Facebook in 2013 and 2014.
Barbara Hurdas worked with Santos at a Queens Dish Network call center in 2011 and 2012. She told Patch that Santos frequently posted what she felt were racist comments and memes on Facebook in 2016 and 2017. Hurdas said he particularly focused on making fun of former First Lady Michelle Obama, saying she was a man.
"I remember back then [his social media] was hard to read or [had] bad spelling," she remembered, but she felt the meaning was clear, she said.
In 2020, a former Democratic candidate who ran for the 3rd Congressional District in 2018, Joshua Sauberman, tweeted a screenshot of what he told Patch he felt was a racist Instagram post on Santos' official congressional candidate Instagram account. In 2014, Santos shared a meme that depicted former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes that has been criticized by many, including the ADL, as being offensive.
Santos responded to Sauberman's tweet, arguing that the hashtags he wrote on the Instagram post demonstrated that he posted it to critique the meme.
"I'm sure you read the footer as to what I said? It's going to be hard to sale [sic] your BS when trying to accuse me of racism. I'm son of a black man and raised in a very bi-racial family."
Santos took the Instagram post down after Sauberman's tweet.
During his run for Congress in 2022, Santos decried antisemitism several times. On Dec. 1, 2022, Santos posted a condemnation of Kanye West on his official congressional campaign Facebook page.
"This is horrific...There is never a place, time or exception for anti-semitism. Any friend of Nazi-sympathizers or worse, Nazi-applauders is an enemy of freedom, liberty in America."
Earlier this month, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman pointed out that Santos' claims of Jewish heritage were particularly egregious in a congressional district with many descendants of Holocaust survivors.
"For him to make up this story, that his parents were Holocaust survivors, is beyond the pale. It is simply tragic and outrageous, and disgusting," he said.
Santos has admitted to several lies about his work and education history, and is accused of more, including his mother being in 9/11 and having employees who died in the Pulse nightclub shooting.
He is facing county, state and federal criminal investigations, and Brazilian authorities indicated they would reopen a check fraud case from 2009. A host of elected officials have called for his campaign finances to be looked at by the Federal Election Commission and House ethics committee.
