Former Republican Congressman George Santos delivered a blistering assessment of Washington during a new sit-down with Bill Maher, claiming that much of what Americans see coming out of Congress is little more than political theater.
Appearing on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, Santos ripped the mask off Congress and called the whole operation what it is: theater. Messaging bills. Backroom deals. Cigars, scotch, and pizza while the American people get treated like sheep.
Even Maher, who has spent years mocking Santos, sat there taking it in.
And when Maher gave Santos permission to speak candidly about Washington, Santos did not hold back.
“They’re all full of absolute sh*t.”
Santos then recalled a conversation he said he had with Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana shortly after arriving in Washington.
According to Santos, Zinke looked around Washington and told him:
“It’s all theater. Just remember this, you have one of the best seats in the country.”
Santos said the alleged remark shook his perception of Washington.
“And, you know, Ryan Zinke was somebody I looked up to as, like, a statesman,” Santos told Maher.
Santos claimed he soon began seeing what Zinke allegedly meant as one vote after another came before the House.
“I witnessed it vote after vote,” Santos said.
According to Santos, members frequently found themselves forced to choose between two undesirable options because voting “present” effectively meant surrendering their vote.
“You gotta pick a side on an issue. Yes, no,” Santos said. “So you pick a side, right? The less of the two evils.”
Then came his most brutal assessment of congressional voting.
“If I tell you the amount of times that the votes were just bullsh*t messaging bills—”
Maher jumped in: “That’s what John Fetterman says.”
Santos responded:
“It’s all f*cking Kabuki theater.”
Maher replied, “Exactly.”
Santos then described what he claimed happens after the public fights and partisan warfare on the House floor.
“At the end of the day, it ends in pizza,” Santos said. “Do you know what that means?”
Maher replied, “You order pizza?”
“Pretty much,” Santos responded.
Santos claimed that after lawmakers publicly battle one another, congressional leaders eventually gather privately and hammer out agreements.
“Nobody cares because they will end whatever their mishegas is on the floor, go and do their backroom deals,” Santos said.
He specifically referenced leadership pairings such as Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Johnson, Jeffries and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and previous Republican leaders.
“They get together, they smoke cigars, drink scotch or whatever the f*ck it is that they enjoy,” Santos said.
According to Santos, leadership then returns to the respective party conferences with the decision already effectively made.
“And then they ram it down the conference and the caucus’s throat and say, ‘This is what we’re doing!’” Santos said.
“And, like, we’re sheep.”
Santos claimed members generally fall in line with leadership, though some occasionally break ranks.
“We go there: ‘Yes, this is what leadership told us to do,’” he said. “Every now and then you’ll get a rogue. I happen to be one of those rogues who would kind of go against the grain… Oh, the scolding.”
WATCH:
Former Congressman @Georgesantos delivered an explosive account of his brief time inside Washington during a wide-ranging interview with Bill Maher pic.twitter.com/kjjZvJKZjB
— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) September 28, 2026
As we documented in December 2023, 105 Republicans joined Democrats to expel Santos, a freshman with a 100 percent conservative voting record, while far more serious Democrat scandals never even get a floor vote. Steve Bannon told us that purge was “100% McCarthy,” the same leadership class Santos just described lighting cigars and ramming deals down the conference’s throat.
Santos later told The Gateway Pundit there is “no Fiscal conservative Party left in Washington, DC” and that the GOP had become “no different than the Democrat Party.” He called himself a “TRUMPlican.” After this interview, that diagnosis looks less like a campaign line and more like a field report.
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