Rep. George Santos doubled down on the claim his mother died from cancer due to 9/11, despite records showing she wasn't even in the country

Rep. George Santos leaves the US Capitol on January 12, 2023 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images

• George Santos doubled down on claims that his mother died due to 9/11.
• Santos explained that he meant she died of cancer due to "toxic dust" from the terror attack.
• The NYT previously reported that immigration records showed his mother was in Brazil on 9/11.

Rep. George Santos has doubled down on claims that his mother died due to 9/11 and dismissed immigration records showing that she was in Brazil when the attack occurred.

He claimed in a 2021 tweet that "9/11 claimed my mother's life," even though his mother, Fatima Devolder, died of cancer in 2016.

Santos has claimed in a new interview with OANN's Caitlin Sinclair, published Saturday, that he never claimed his mother died on the day of the terror attack, "but that she had died as a result of [them]."

"The toxic dust that permeated throughout Manhattan and my mother being present, downtown Manhattan, that is, was what I was referencing," Santos. "My mom died in home-hospice in 2016."

The New York Republican has long maintained that his mother was in her office in the South Tower on September 11, 2001.  

However, The New York Times reported that it had viewed immigration documents that showed that Devolder had been in Brazil and not New York at the time of the terror attack.

According to a 2003 visa application for the United States, Devolder said she had been in Brazil since 1999 and could not return due to a stolen green card.

When asked about the immigration documents in the OANN interview, Santos responded that they "didn't know where that came from." 

This is not the only instance that Santos has suggested his mother developed cancer due to 9/11, but it is the first time he publicly acknowledged and dismissed evidence that she was not even present on the day of the attack.

Many New Yorkers did suffer health issues, including cancer, following the terror attack in 2001. However, several law firms and organizations working with survivors told Rolling Stone that they had no records of Devolder filing any compensation claim.

There is also no evidence to suggest that Devolder ever worked in the South Tower. According to The New York Times, she described herself as a housekeeper and home aide on immigration documents.

The embattled congressman has been mired in controversy amid allegations that he fabricated large swathes of his professional and personal history.