George Santos tells Tucker Carlson he's not sure he'll survive prison
'I don't know that I'll survive it. They're putting me in a violent prison,' said Santos on the latest 'Tucker Carlson Show' episode, released Friday. 'I'm not a streetwise guy, I don't know how to fight.'
Santos was sentenced to more than seven years in prison. He was charged with 23 counts of fraud related to wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements, to which he pleaded guilty in August 2024.
He must report to prison by July 25.
'I don't know that I survived this. I am — this could be very much my last interview, and I'm not trying to be overdramatic here. I'm just being honest with you. I look at this as practically a death sentence to what could occur to me,' he continues in the interview.
He expressed fears over his prison sentence on X on July 9, saying that if he dies in prison, he does not want people to think it's a suicide.
'I'm heading to prison; folks and I need you to hear this loud and clear: I'm not suicidal. I'm not depressed. I have no intentions of harming myself, and I will not willingly engage in any sexual activity while I'm in there. If anything comes out suggesting otherwise, consider it a lie…full stop.'
'The statistics around what happens to gay men in BOP custody are horrifying, and that's exactly why I'm putting this out there now. So if something does happen, there's no confusion. I did NOT kill myself.'
Santos also called the ethics report that got him expelled from the House a 'political hit piece' and denounced what he called a lack of no due process before being kicked out.
Santos became the first gay Republican candidate to win a House seat as a non-incumbent in 2022.
A couple of days after he won, reports appeared that he lied about his past professional experiences. Those snowballed into allegations of credit and campaign fraud, as well as identity theft. He was expelled from the House in December 2023, after a third such vote, which followed the damning ethics report.
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