Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said it was a “questionable” decision for Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) to attend the State of the Union address on Tuesday night but added that he was particularly taken aback by the disgraced first-term lawmaker’s decision to sit on the aisle.  

“Certainly, the fact that he showed up to the State of the Union was questionable, but sitting on the aisle to where he could get attention?” Comer said to NBC News after the speech, adding, “The fact that he was wanting to be in the center of the limelight, it just makes no sense.”

Santos positioned himself along the aisle where President Biden, Supreme Court justices and other dignitaries entered the chamber.

His spot along the aisle resulted in an apparently heated exchange with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) before the speech, as the senator walked toward his own seat.

“I don’t know the exact words I said,” Romney told reporters of the encounter after the address. “He shouldn’t have been there. Look, he’s a sick puppy. He shouldn’t have been there.”

“I don’t think he ought to be in Congress, and he certainly shouldn’t be in the aisle trying to shake the hand of the president of the United States and dignitaries coming in. It’s an embarrassment,” Romney said.

Comer added on Tuesday night that he thinks that Santos “crossed the line obviously” with his various falsehoods about his background.

“Right now, he’s under an ethics investigation, he’s under a campaign finance violation investigation, so obviously he deserves due process,” Comer told NBC News. “But you know, he’s crossed the line obviously and he certainly doesn’t speak for the Republican Party and we’re very disappointed in Santos.”