You Can Now Buy a Talking George Santos Bobblehead — for a Good Cause
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Sipa via AP Images George Santos
Just weeks after a disabled veteran accused Republican Rep. George Santos of once scamming him out of $3,000 meant for his ailing service dog, one organization is using the allegation as a springboard to raise funds for dogs in need — by selling bobblehead figurines made in the likeness of Santos.
In a statement sent to PEOPLE, National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Phil Sklar said the organization has been "receiving a growing number of requests for a bobblehead of George Santos."
After hearing that Santos may have used GoFundMe to scam a distraught dog owner, the museum decided it would unveil a Santos bobblehead with a caveat: that $5 from every sale go to dog-related GoFundMe campaigns, in an attempt to make things right.
National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
The bobblehead sales come shortly after Navy veteran Richard Osthoff told Patch he was connected with Santos back in 2016. At the time, Santos was going by the name Anthony Devolder and running a purported charity called Friends of Pets United. Osthoff's service dog, Sapphire, was diagnosed with a stomach tumor, so Osthoff reached out to Santos for help.
According to Osthoff, Santos set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for Sapphire, but once the funds reached $3,000, he seemingly disappeared.
"To everyone who helped me and Sapphire raise the money for her surgery, I'm sorry to say that we were scammed by Anthony Devolder and Friends of Pets United FOPU," a 2016 Facebook post by Osthoff reads.
RELATED: Rep. George Santos Appears to Have Ripped Off His Former Boss's Resume in Crafting His Backstory
Sapphire's tumor grew and she had to be euthanized, with Osthoff resorting to panhandling to pay for her euthanasia and cremation, he told Patch. "It was one of the most degrading things I ever had to do," he said.
Santos has denied the story, though a campaign bio claimed the lawmaker ran Friends of Pet United and used it to save 2,500 dogs and cats between 2013 and 2018. While The New York Times found that the organization at one point had a Facebook page and once hosted a 2017 fundraiser, the Internal Revenue Service has no record of a registered charity going by that name.
The alleged pet fundraising scam is just one of Santos' many controversies. The recently elected Republican congressman from New York has been caught in a web of lies and admitted to "embellishing" parts of his career, family history and personal life. He is currently under investigation by both the Nassau County District Attorney's Office and federal investigators.
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The bobblehead version of Santos will play clips of some of the lawmaker's "biggest lies in his own words at the touch of a button," the museum said in a release. Each will be individually numbered and they are available via the museum's Online Store for $30 each plus shipping.
"No one knows how and when the drama surrounding George Santos will end, but we know the bobblehead will be the perfect collectible to commemorate this unbelievable story for years to come," museum co-founder Sklar said in a statement.
