Why It Shouldn’t Take Months for Controversial Politicians to Resign

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Queens just can’t seem to catch a break from sleazy politicians misleading their voters.

Over the past few months, two high-profile cases have surfaced in New York politics where a politician is all but proven to have committed an atrocity against their constituents, only for that same politician to refuse to resign.

Congressman George Santos of Queens and Long Island admitted to the New York Post that most of his resume is a farce, and later came on the airwaves of Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to tell guest host Tulsi Gabbard that he can’t explain his alleged private equity background because it would “fly over the heads” of regular Americans. Santos has faced bipartisan pressure to resign, especially from his New York colleagues.

More recently, the Queens Chronicle unearthed allegations of gross sexual misconduct against New York State Assemblyman Juan Ardila, who also happens to represent parts of Queens. Ardila has faced pressure from Governor Kathy Hochul and State

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to step down as a result.

But how has Ardila responded to these claims? What he considers taking responsibility for his actions by more or less blowing off his accusers.

In a statement, Ardila more or less confirms the allegations, states that he believes in “restorative justice” and asks his constituents for a second chance — to the disgust of those he represents.

Ardila and Santos show that you don’t need to be a Democrat or a Republican to be a politician with no shame. You just need to have the egotistical drive to hold power at any cost.

The two are setting a dangerous example for the next politician who gets caught in their tracks for being unfit for office. It normalizes the practice of sitting and praying the negative attention goes away and makes them unaccountable to their real bosses: the voters who cast their ballots to elect them and could just as easily remove them.