A former GOP House candidate claims his fiancé was fired for attending Trump’s Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve party

• Former Republican congressional candidate George Santos posted photos on Instagram of him and his fiancé attending a New Year’s Eve party at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
• The New York Times later included a link to Santos’s Instagram photos in an article.
• Santos has claimed that the article led to his fiancé being fired from his pharmacist job, and that they were forced to leave their home. Insider has contacted The Times for comment.
• President Donald Trump had abruptly ditched the event but many of his associates, including two of his sons and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, were in attendance.
• Footage from the event showed dozens of attendees dancing without wearing masks or social distancing.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

A failed GOP congressional candidate has claimed that his fiancé was fired, and that the couple had to flee their home, for attending a lavish New Year’s Eve gala at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort owned by President Donald Trump.

George Santos, who unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, for New York’s 3rd district in the 2020 election, posted photos of the event to his official Instagram account.

Santos made his account private on Sunday morning, but you can see some screenshots below.

In one photo, Santos can be seen posing with his fiancé in formal attire. In another, he is seen shaking hands with Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Footage from the event showed dozens of people dancing without masks or social distancing.

On January 1, The New York Times published a report saying the gala appeared to violate Palm Beach County's COVID-19 guidelines, which included one hyperlink to Santos's Instagram photo of the evening's menu.

On January 2, Santos claimed that The Times' article resulted in his pharmacist fiancé's losing his job, and the couple having to flee their home as a result.

"My fiancé and I had to leave our home this evening with our 4 dogs thanks to the New York Times publishing of my Instagram showing me attending the Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve Party," Santos tweeted.

"My fiancé a pharmacist who worked 12h/7 days shifts for 9 months was fired! The violence against us is real."

Santos added in a Saturday night Instagram post: "@nytimes, you have exposed my family to danger and have stripped one of us of our livelihood! This is unAmerican."

Insider has contacted The New York Times for comment.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump were originally billed to attend the party, but decided not to go at the last minute.

However, many of Trump's associates, including Rep. Matt Gaetz and the president's sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were in attendance.

Trump Jr. posted footage of the event of him and a maskless crowd dancing to Vanilla Ice that night, prompting widespread criticism and mockery.

The event took place on the same day that Florida reported 17,192 new coronavirus cases, the largest single-day increase yet.

The state has recorded 1.35 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.