Inside George Santos’ chaotic ‘Fortnite Friday’ livestream

WASHINGTON (CN) — “The storm’s coming. I’ve got to run,” said former New York congressman and accused felon George Santos.

It was early on a Friday evening. The onetime lawmaker was hauling uphill. He was attempting with some difficulty to rendezvous with his teammate, an avatar wearing a Buffalo Bills football kit emblazoned with the number of the late NFL running back O. J. Simpson.

This all might sound like a fever dream — but not quite. Santos, known in Beltway circles as one of the only lawmakers to ever be booted from Congress, was streaming live on Twitch, an online broadcast platform for gamers. He’d joined streamer ConnorEatsPants for an interview.

In real life, the former congressman from New York’s Third Congressional District was expelled from Congress last year after a series of bizarre scandals and fantastical lies. Last summer, he pleaded guilty to two federal charges.

On Twitch on Friday, Santos was instead just another person playing the wildly popular video game Fortnite: Battle Royale. Much like the Capitol itself, the game is a no-holds-barred brawl featuring eccentric personalities and often, bad behavior.

Santos played under the screen name “MrSantosNY.” As he and ConnorEatsPants leapt from the starting Battle Bus to combat across Fortnite’s sprawling map, the pair chatted. In front of an audience of more than 6,500, they discussed the disgraced former congressman’s time on Capitol Hill, the federal charges against him and a grab bag of hot-button political issues.

It was part of ConnorEatsPants “Fortnite Friday” series — an intermittent stream that’s also featured rappers, actors and other celebrities. Santos’appearance comes as political figures of all stripes have turned to nontraditional media in an effort to expand their reach to new and younger audiences.

Even the major presidential candidates are hopping on the trend. On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on “Call Her Daddy,” a weekly comedy and advice podcast that has become one of the most-listened shows on streaming services.

In August, former President Donald Trump likewise sat down with streamer Adin Ross. During their hourlong conversation, Ross gifted the Republican a Rolex watch and a Tesla Cybertruck — a likely violation of U.S. campaign finance regulations, as some critics pointed out.

The political focus on content creators was especially apparent at the Democratic National Convention in August. Party officials issued media credentials to hundreds of creators, including TikTok news aggregator Philip DeFranco and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.

Such creators were feted like VIPs. The Democratic National Committee constructed a three-tiered stage on the convention floor, giving them an unrestricted view of the proceedings. It also provided them with a private lounge — an accommodation that caused friction between the Democrats and traditional journalists, who got no such treatment.

Efforts to court younger audiences can have obvious political undertones. But Santos’ appearance on Fortnite Friday was equally about providing entertainment, ConnorEatsPants told Courthouse News in an interview on Monday.

Connor, who asked to only use his first name for privacy reasons, said he saw it as an opportunity to dissect a controversial political figure while also bringing on a person who has in many ways become his own meme.

“I think there’s a desire in what I do, which is escapism entertainment, to provide something of substance, too,” he said. “Escapism and humor are important in and of themselves, but — especially during an election year when it feels kind of helpless, with how on fire the world is — how can I contribute some good?”

Connor, 25, reasoned that the former New York congressman was a perfect example of straddling the line between humor and serious discourse. “What the hell is going on in American politics that this can even happen, that this guy can get in?” he said.

During his brief tenure on Capitol Hill, Santos was no stranger to controversy.

Almost immediately after being elected, the lawmaker faced accusations he’d lied about his background and qualifications on the campaign trail. He would later face nearly two dozen federal charges that were backed up by a House Ethics Committee investigation.

Santos was expelled from Congress in December, making him just the sixth sitting lawmaker in U.S. history to be removed from his position.

He pleaded guilty in August to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faces a minimum of two years in prison and nearly $600,000 in fines.

In spite of it all, the former congressman has also been a repeated viral sensation on social media. In October 2023, Santos garnered media attention for a clip which showed him yelling at pro-Palestine protesters in a House office building while holding a baby. Asked whether the child was his, he cryptically replied: “Not yet.”

Following his removal from Congress, the former lawmaker began selling personalized video messages using the app Cameo — a move that earned him even further social media attention. He still has a profile on the site, offering videos for $250 apiece.

Intentionally or not, Santos’ exploits gave Americans an unvarnished look at Congress and the political process, Connor said. He highlighted “the whole Santos story,” from “how many lies he told” to “the wacky stories about what happened while he was in Congress.”

“What can be learned from that?” he said.

The streamer, who has hosted such celebrities as rapper Lil Pump and actor McKenna Grace on Fortnite Friday, said he first got in touch with Santos via X, formerly Twitter. He started reaching out first in replies to the lawmaker’s posts, then later in direct messages.

Connor said the onetime congressman at first requested through a booking team that he pay a $6,000 “appearance fee.” He later changed his mind, offering instead to join the streamer on Fortnite Friday at no charge. In exchange, Connor agreed to appear on a yet-unscheduled episode of Santos’ forthcoming podcast.

A spokesperson for Santos confirmed that his team had waived the booking fee for his appearance on the ConnorEatsPants stream. It was “industry standard practice,” the spokesperson said.

“The fee was waived in exchange for Mr. Connor’s appearance on an upcoming project of Mr. Santos,” the spokesperson said. For Connor, the deal was worth it. Reflecting on the interview, he described the lawmaker as an “open book” willing to discuss his politics and former Capitol Hill colleagues.

During the two-hour stream, Connor and Santos covered a range of issues.

Among them: gun control, abortion access and the Trump administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The streamer pressed the former congressman on the charges against him and his management of campaign funds. Santos redirected the conversation, at one point arguing he had been a “good steward” of taxpayer money while in office.

“I managed, for my own office, $1.9 million between staff and … the operation of my congressional office,” he told Connor. “Even with me getting expelled, I was able to be a good steward of the money and return $600,000.”

The lawmaker argued that the charges he pleaded guilty to were “campaign issues.” He said they were unrelated to his duties as a congressman.

On that front at least, House investigators seemed to agree. In an ethics probe last year, they found the former lawmaker spent funds on Botox, designer clothes and the adult-content platform OnlyFans.

Santos also weighed in on other members of Congress, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy, who was ousted as the top House Republican by his colleagues last year, used to call the onetime New York lawmaker “sunshine,” he said.

“Kevin was a great leader to his party … he stood for certain values, even though he compromised sometimes and folded to the Democrats,” Santos told Connor. “We never walked out with our asses handed to us.”

The former lawmaker had less charitable things to say about current House Speaker Mike Johnson, who he said “took it up the ass” from Democrats on policy negotiations.

The interview, while touching on politics repeatedly, also often slipped into the absurd, with Santos discussing his favorite Pokémon (Vaporeon) and his affinity for “Resident Evil” movies.

Sometimes, Fortnite itself proved an impediment to sober political discussion.

On several occasions, Santos was forced to pause or abandon a line of questioning completely as the duo battled another squad or looted chests for new weapons. After Connor gave Santos a pair of in-game Iron Man boots to try out, the former lawmaker never completed his thought about Speaker Johnson.

That absurdity was the point, the streamer said. He insisted he did not want him or his show to become synonymous with political discourse.

Instead, he argued that his relatively apolitical tenor put him in a good position to question the former lawmaker.

“A lot of interviews you see are so amicable, with people trying to see both sides,” he said. “At least I’m in a position where I can joke about this shit and show how crazy it all is.”

Connor said he understoodthe recent push from political figures to appear on streams.

“It’s absolutely the best way to reach people,” he said. “This stuff is the future of media to a lot of people — especially young people.”

“Streamers and influencers are accessible in a way that traditional celebrities and media figures are not,” he added. “That authenticity is super important in a world that is rapidly changing, where it’s hard to know what to believe or what’s going on.”

Though he isn’t planning on inviting another political figure for his next Fortnite Friday, Connor said he does have a wish list of other potential guests from the realm of politics.

Referencing Harris’ then-upcoming appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Connor said he’d love to have her on his stream — though he called it a long shot.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell were also among his targeted guests. Still, there’s no telling if those much older guests could play Fortnite as well as Santos. “For someone who doesn’t play a lot of games, I was surprised,” ConnorEatsPants said of the disgraced lawmaker. “I’d give him a five out of ten.”

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