What made the Santos story maddening to Democrats, as you may recall, was that his Himalayan mountain range of lies came to light not during the campaign, but after. The New York Times broke the story nationally on December 18, 2022. Zimmerman recalls a text from a friend that morning: Have you read the Times story? No, he had not. Well, he remembers thinking upon reading it, “Thank goodness it’s finally out.”
But why didn’t he and his campaign know all this? He explains it all in this Zoom chat and reflects on the broader lessons of the Santos story. “It’s what happens,” he says, “when there’s a complete lack of public engagement.” People who don’t know any better might chuckle at the guy who managed to lose to George Santos, but those who pay attention know this wasn’t Zimmerman’s fault.