George Santos listed as 'special guest' at event with far-right figures

WASHINGTON — Newly elected Republican George Santos, who next month takes office as a congressman representing parts of Nassau County and Queens, is listed as a special guest at a GOP event in Manhattan Saturday featuring many far-right American and European figures, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The New York Young Republican Club’s black-tie annual gala also features Donald Trump Jr. and Jack Posobiec, a Human Events editor known for disinformation campaigns and who promoted Pizzagate, which falsely accused Democrats of running a pedophile ring at a Washington pizza parlor.

The guest list includes members of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party founded by a former Nazi SS officer, and the Freedom Youth of Austria party that seeks to protect Western culture from globalism and “subjugation of our culture” and to end illegal immigration that “eradicates” the “traditional people of a land.”

Democrats and the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that monitors hate groups, raised concerns about the gala’s speakers, including Greene, whose promotion of many far-right conspiracy theories led the House to remove her from her committee assignments.

“The event’s headliners have built brands on the backs of hatred and bigotry. The New York Young Republican Club — and national Republicans — should be ashamed,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) in a statement.

Club president Gavin Wax could not be reached immediately for comment Friday.

Wax defended his star guests but also acknowledged he is coordinating with the New York Police Department for expected protests at the Midtown event's undisclosed location, NY1 Spectrum News reported Friday.

“We reject the framing and the accusations of the SPLC,” Wax told NY1. “These are all sort of baseless accusations that are thrown ad nauseam at anyone who even dares to veer just slightly right of center.”

Santos, 34, of Whitestone, who defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the race to replace Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), declined to answer questions when reached by phone.

He said to put questions in writing but has not responded to Newsday’s written queries.

Santos supported former President Donald Trump and has said he attended his “Stop the Steal” Rally at the Ellipse in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

But he said he did not enter the U.S. Capitol after a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the building and ransacked offices and desks in the chambers.

SPLC senior investigative reporter Michael Edison Hayden said his group has documented Posobiec's ties to white nationalists, neo-Nazis and anti-government extremists.

The gala’s master of ceremonies will be Bill Spadea, a New Jersey radio host banned from LinkedIn because of accusations of spreading COVID vaccine misinformation.

Its toastmaster will be Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and an unsuccessful candidate this year for the Republican nomination for New York governor.

Featured speakers at the Young Republicans' gala include many figures in Trump’s orbit, including Rudy Giuliani, Trump associate Roger Stone, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik.

Well-known conservatives on the guest list include Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe, former Blackwater private military company owner Erik Prince and right-wing media figures such as Mike Crispi and Raheem Kassam.

The guest list includes Cait Corrigan, who ran unsuccessfully to replace Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in the 1st congressional District, and Robert Cornicelli, who lost his bid for the GOP nomination in Long Island’s 2nd Congressional District.

Also on the list is Kevin Smith, founder of Long Island Loud Majority, which SPLC listed as among 488 “extreme antigovernment groups” active in 2021.

The group's supporters are patriots "tired of watching their liberties eroded away by an ever-expanding government," according to its website.