Culture

George Santos tried to read Drag Race winner Trixie Mattel

By Conor Clark

24th January 2023

Embattled congressman George Santos made the mistake of trying to read Drag Race winner Trixie Mattel on Twitter.

After photos from 2008 appeared to confirm that the openly gay Republican had appeared in drag during a festival in Brazil, Santos has adamantly denied ever being a “drag queen”.

In a post on Twitter, he described the claims to be the “most recent obsession from the media” and referred to them as “categorically false”.

Santos eventually doubled down on this stance and recently told reporters: “No, I was not a drag queen in Brazil, guys. I was young and I had fun at a festival. Sue me for having a life.”

The story has since been transformed into multiple viral skits by some of America’s late-night TV shows.

Bowen Yang depicted the politician as a complete liar on Saturday Night Live, while Jon Lovitz portrayed him on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Responding to these performances, Santos took to Twitter and said: “I have now been enshrined in late night TV history with all these impersonations, but they are all TERRIBLE so far. Jon Lovitz is supposed to be one of the greatest comedians of all time and that was embarrassing— for him not me! These comedians need to step their game up.”

“Maybe the source material was weak”

Trixie swiftly responded to the politician, suggesting that “maybe the source material was weak.”

Santos then attempted to drag the All Stars 3 winner by posting a gif of Trixie playing RuPaul during Snatch Game.

“Clearly you know all about weak acting skills @trixiemattel,” he wrote.

The fan favourite queen then used Santos’ own words against him and quoted what he had told reporters: “I am not an actor! I was young and I had fun at a festival!”

Trixie’s tweet was ‘liked’ almost 30,000 times in its first 12 hours on the platform, a far cry from the 2,000 Santos’ had garnered.

“This ratio is devastating,” one fan wrote in response.

READ MORE: Republican congressman admits lying about education and work history

Another added: “It’s funny how he keeps giving himself away; for someone who claims to not know much about the drag scene he sure does know his Drag Race Snatch Game!”

“Trixie’s worst RuPaul is still more authentic than George Santos’s best George Santos,” said a third.

See how others reacted below: