Former Republican Rep. Launches Petition Calling on George Santos to Resign

Chip Somodevilla/Getty; Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg via Getty Adam Kinzinger (left), George Santos

Just hours after embattled Republican Rep. George Santos said he would resign if more than 142,000 people asked him to, former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger has launched a petition seeking exactly that.

Last Thursday, Santos — who has been embroiled in scandal after admitting that much of his resumé was a lie — told NBC News, "if 142,000 people ask for me to resign, I will resign."

Later that same day, Santos noted on a podcast that more than 142,000 people had voted for him in November, and that he intended to remain in Congress "until those same 142,000 people tell me they don't want me."

RELATED: Fact-Checking the George Santos Claims: From Goldman Sachs Employee to College 'Volleyball Star'

Hours later, Kinzinger — who retired from Congress in December — announced he had launched a petition seeking 142,000 to call on Santos to resign.

"On January 12, 2023, disgraced pathological liar and brand new Congressman George Santos promised Matt Gaetz (and the rest of us) that he would resign if 142,000 people signed a petition asking him to do so — the same number of votes he received in November," the petition reads. "We're happy to deliver them to his office!"

The petition has so far received more than 46,000 signatures.

Other petitions calling on Santos to resign, such as one from Democratic activist group MoveOn, have also elicited tens of thousands of signatures.

RELATED: U.S. Rep.-Elect George Santos Now Under Federal Investigation for Financial Disclosures: Report

The controversy surrounding Santos stems from a bombshell New York Times report that revealed that a large portion of the Republican's biography could not be substantiated. The allegations that he misled voters about his level of education, previous jobs and family ties to the Holocaust, earned bipartisan condemnation in recent days for misrepresenting himself.

Santos, who was elected in November to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District, has admitted he lied about some things, such as working at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, as he had previously asserted (he never worked at either), and attending Baruch College or New York University (he attended neither). But he has remained tight-lipped about other mysteries, such as his source of income and campaign funding.

Some of the mystery surrounding Santos' background — particularly when it comes to his finances — has sparked investigations both at the federal and county level and led to a growing chorus of lawmakers calling on the Republican to resign.

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Last week, a group of Nassau County, New York Republicans called on Santos to resign in a press conference, with chairman Joseph Cairo telling reporters: "Today, on behalf of the Nassau County Republican Committee, I am calling for his immediate resignation. George Santos' campaign last year, 2022, was a campaign of deceit, lies, fabrication."

Cairo continued: "He deceived voters. His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives … He's not welcome here at Republican headquarters."