Rep. Womack responds to George Santos attacking his son’s drug addiction: ‘Those words cut pretty deep’

After Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) voted to expel indicted Rep. George Santos (R-NY) from Congress, the embattled New York Republican took to social media to attack his fellow Republican’s son and his battle with drugs.

Following the vote, Womack posted a joke on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, writing, “Last night, the House saw its shadow. Unfortunately, this means there will be two more weeks of Santos.”

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Santos responded to Womack in a now-deleted post on X, saying, “Your son is a felon. He has been in and out of the prison system for years. He is a drug dealer, poisoning people on the streets with meth and unlawful possession of a gun. Instead of being home, taking care of your son, you’re sitting pretty in the swamp.”

Womack’s 37-year-old son, James, pleaded guilty this year to charges that included distributing more than five grams of methamphetamine. He faces up to 40 years in prison.

“Our family has been through a lot with an adult son, and those subjects are always off limits in terms of the political discourse. And for somebody to raise it for some kind of political gain, is regretful,” Womack told the Washington Examiner. “There’s enough up here to get crossways about, but let’s leave families out of it.”

Womack said that while Santos did apologize to him for the post, he crossed a line, and the damage had already been done.

“In my case, it’s a son with a drug problem; for someone else, it’s an illness. For others, it’s money; for others, it’s domestic,” Womack said. “I mean, there’s not a family up here that doesn’t have some challenge going on in their life. And life and politics is complicated enough; we don’t need to resort to that kind of stuff. And well, he did what he did; he apologized for it. But still, those words cut pretty deep.”

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Santos also publicly apologized on X for the post, saying he had a “misguided moment of rage and lashed out against a colleague’s family member after he was critical of me” and that he was “deeply sorry for doing so.”

Womack has been open about his son’s battle with addiction in the past. When his son pleaded guilty earlier this year, he gave a statement to a local news outlet, saying, “There’s not a more helpless feeling than to see your adult children struggle with addiction and its horrific consequences. This is our cross to bear. We will never give up on a solution. We love him unconditionally and believe in our hearts he will redeem himself. We regret he is at the mercy of the criminal justice system and will respect the judgment.”