The family of civil rights icon Rosa Parks is speaking out against the comments made by disgraced New York politician Rep. George Santos.
In an exclusive interview with TMZ, Parks’ niece, Rhea McCauley, called Santos’s comments inappropriate and said it’s “apples to oranges when it comes to the situation.” McCauley says other family members are also upset about his remarks and want an apology for misusing her name.
Parks is considered the mother of the civil rights movement, gaining notoriety for refusing to move to the back of a bus in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat for a white passenger. She was arrested and jailed, sparking the boycott of the public bus system, led by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. McCauley called Santos’ comparison an “inaccurate juxtaposition—being that Parks was fighting for freedom and Santos is battling a personal conflict. She pointed out that her iconic aunt wouldn’t have liked the politician as she wasn’t too fond of fabricators or liars.
As a Mike Crispi Unafraid podcast guest, the NY rep became upset by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), saying Santos shouldn’t be in Congress. Santos says as a Latino gay man, he isn’t going to stand for it—just like Rosa Parks. “Rosa Parks didn’t sit in the back, and neither am I gonna sit in the back,” Santos told Crispi.
Santos has been mired in controversy since being elected to office. The Guardian reports the 34-year-old was charged in New York on 13 counts of fraud, theft of public funds, and money laundering and was bailed out by his family. A motion to have him expelled from Congress, failed without Republicans to back it. The bad blood between Romney and Santos goes back to February 2023, when Romney confronted Santos at the State of the Union, calling him a “sick puppy.”