(NewsNation) — In an impassioned debate Wednesday night with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, conservative talk show host Bill Cunningham said he felt New York Congressman-elect George Santos — who apologized earlier this week for lying about his heritage, career and education during his campaign — was “no different” than other Democratic politicians.
Long Island prosecutors launched an investigation into the embattled Santos on Wednesday after he apologized for lying, following a New York Times investigation that brought the discrepancies to light.
Cunningham said that while he didn’t like what Santos did, the New York politician only did what other Democratic politicians had done before.
“At the rate (Santos is) going, he’s going to be a chairman of a committee. In fact, at some point, he might become the president,” Cunningham said.
Cuomo challenged Cunningham after he continued to deflect negative attention directed at the Republican Party onto Democrats instead of focusing on Santos. The debate heated up quickly on both sides.
When Cuomo asked Cunningham for his views on Santos and not the opposing party, the conservative talk show host called out Democratic politicians like President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Hunter Biden and former President Bill Clinton for lying.
While Cunningham was passionate about supporting the GOP, he conceded that he felt “George Santos represents American politics, the worst parts of American politics.
“But he’s no different than Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House Democrats, who is an election denier no different than Hillary Clinton, who said a couple of years ago, President Trump was not legitimately elected.”
Cuomo pointed out that Cunningham appeared unable to discuss Santos without deflecting the conversation toward other Democratic politicians.
“This guy lied about material things. You said, ‘Well, so did this guy.’ That’s why our politics suck, Bill. You don’t want better from anybody,” Cuomo said.
“If Santos were a Democrat, your hair would be on fire right now. And you know it,” he added.
Cunningham responded saying he didn’t worry about the peccadilloes in comparison to policy.
“The day that we get sick of playing the game of ‘who is worse’ is the day that things start to get better,” Cuomo said.
He concluded the interview by challenging Cunningham to call out things that are not right, instead of feeding into what is wrong.
Watch Bill Cunningham’s interview on “CUOMO” in the video player above.