A truly depressing picture

George Santos, celebrity

On Wednesday night, Democrats and Republicans played in the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Republicans won in a rout.

It’s a fun tradition. I’ve been many times in the past. It makes you feel good — or at least better — about the people who represent you.

Except…

Liz Elkind, who works for Fox News, was in attendance last night. And she snapped this picture:

(Photo by Liz Elkind)

If you don’t recognize him, the guy in the Mets jersey and the black hat (fitting!) is none other than New York Rep. George Santos.

You know George Santos. The guy who made up almost everything about himself — Baruch volleyball! — during his successful run for Congress in 2022. The guy who was indicted last month on 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress.

Yeah, that George Santos.

And yes, the line near him in the picture is, in fact, comprised of people who want to have their picture made with him.

Here’s another picture from Elkind of the selfies taking place:

This is, in a word, depressing. And in two words incredibly depressing.

Santos is not famous. He is infamous. There is a difference — although societally we may no longer recognize one.

He is the worst kind of public figure — one who feeds on attention (negative or positive) and embraces his notoriety as fun (or something.)

The simple fact is that George Santos is loving every minute of being “George Santos.” He understands that this is his moment in the cultural spotlight and is bound and determined to milk it for all it’s worth.

It’s why, despite his pyramid of lies, his federal indictment and the efforts by many of his colleagues to get rid of him, Santos is happily clinging to his New York House seat — thrilled with all the attention and unwilling to give it up.

The parallels with former President Donald Trump are obvious. Santos is clearly taking his cues from Trump’s never apologize, never relent approach to political and/or legal trouble. And, like Trump, rather than ducking the spotlight, Santos is stepping into and glorying in it.

What’s most depressing for me in the pictures above isn’t Santos, however. It’s the people lined up to get their photo taken with him.

Now, in their defense:

1. They appear to be young (Youth is wasted on the young)

2. It’s uniquely possible they are having a laugh at Santos’ expense — along the lines of “you’ll never believe who I met!”

But, still! That it’s considered cultural currency — you know those photos are instantly going on Instagram — to get your photo made with Santos says something truly sad not just about our politics but our broader society.

Given what we know about Santos, the best thing — for all of us — is to ignore him. That’s a true penalty for him. Instead, he is celebrated as some sort of celebrity.

Ugh.