Former Republican congressman George Santos revives drag persona Kitara Ravache in fundraising bid
George Santos is planning to raise money for charity by recording videos as his drag persona, Kitara Ravache. (Cameo/ Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Former Republican congressman George Santos has revived his drag persona in an attempt to “make some money for charity”.
The scandal-hit former congressman, who has an anti-LGBTQ+ record and has been subject to investigations over various lies, took to X/Twitter on Monday (29 April) to announce the fundraising drive.
The move to bring “Kitara [Ravache] out of the closet after 18 years” follows his withdrawal as an independent candidate for New York’s first congressional district.
“Y’all weren’t ready for this drop?” he began the post, which linked to a Cameo where people can book a video request for Kitara.
Cameo enables people to purchase personalised video messages from their favourite celebrities, and Santos vowed that 20 per cent of the proceeds will go to emergency services charity Tunnel to Towers Foundation and The Fellowship, which on X states gives “comfort to a Jewish person in need”.
According to the Star Observer, he told the New York Daily News: “Y’all were so obsessed with me being a drag queen so now I’m going to use that to make some money for charity. It’s me trolling you.”
Santos’ embracing of his former drag persona follows his admission in January 2023 that he dressed as a woman for “fun at a festival”. His confession came two days after he called claims that he was a drag queen “categorically false”.
The allegations cropped up after images said to be of Santos were shared by journalist Marisa Kabas the day after she had spoken to drag queen Eula Rochard, who claimed she had been a friend of Santos when lived near Rio de Janeiro.
A photo from 2008 also surfaced, showing Santos, known at the time by his middle name Anthony, in drag under the moniker Kitara Ravache.
Announcing the end of his New York candidacy on X, Santos said that staying in the race against Republican candidate Nick LaLota, whose record he had described as “abysmal”, would guarantee “a victory for the Dems[ocrats] in the race”.
But he added: “It’s only goodbye for now, I’ll be back.”
