George Santos says it’s so much harder to come out as conservative than gay

The day Meghan McCain left The View, we prayed she had literally left our sight for good. And she has—the conservative pundit is in our ears in a new podcast. And her very first guest, here to discuss the tribulations of being a Republican, is famous fabulist and future felon (allegedly!) Rep George Santos.

The first episode of Megan McCain Has Entered the Chat hit podcasts apps on Tuesday. Santos—who is currently facing 23 felony counts and general public ridicule for lies that range from the mundane to the bizarre—offered insight no one asked for on the true struggle he’s facing: being gay in an anti-gay party.

He began with his personal life. Recently, Santos shook the internet (the very idea that he still can) when he nonchalantly brought up his husband while paying tribute to the late Sen Dianne Feinstein. That’s one way to drop the husband reveal…

It turned out that he had mentioned his partner in the past. Once, he even did so when he was still involved in a marriage (that he continues to claim was legit) to a woman. Now, he gave McCain even more details on the mystery man.

“We met on one of those dating apps,” Santos said. One of those dating apps being Grindr (he’s just like us!). “We’ve been together, in total, five years, and we were three years together before we got married,” Santos continued. “We moved in with each other a year into it.”

On the topic of children, Santos showed rare self-awareness. “Let’s say we adopt one with everything about me out there,” he said. “I don’t know how a child can bear all the insanity that could come from that.”

Related:

Here’s every last bombshell dropped in that George Santos profile

We learned so much.

Alas, the self-awareness was fleeting. Santos quickly pivoted to self-pity. “It was easier coming out as a gay man in my 20s in New York City than it was coming out a conservative,” he said.

As the first out gay Republican elected to Congress, he’s certainly been doing the work to make coming out as gay much harder! He has backed numerous anti-LGBTQ+ laws and stances—supporting Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, sponsoring a national LGBTQ+ book ban bill, advancing the “groomer” slur, claiming Democrats are “trying to erase women,” and demonizing drag queens (despite having been one himself).

McCain seemed to sympathize with his view, commenting that Caitlyn Jenner said the same thing about coming as trans versus as conservative. Even as a lifelong Republican (though she has been critical of the party since Trump’s election), McCain has been an outspoken advocate for same-sex marriage. She is also married to Ben Domenech, the publisher of the virulently anti-trans outlet, The Federalist.

Putting aside the fact that there is a rampant right wing pushback against all the victories won for gay and trans rights, you have to wonder how people like Santos never stop to consider why it became generally easier to come out. It’s almost as if there was a historical progressive movement fought bitterly against conservatives for the right to safely come out.