Kalshi Bans George Santos for Life Over State of the Union Bets
Prediction market platform Kalshi has permanently banned former Republican Rep. George Santos from its service due to allegations that he bet on whether he would attend President Trump’s State of the Union address, making $17,839 in profit. The compliance team at Kalshi stated there was 'reasonable cause' to believe Santos placed bets related to his own attendance and made public statements about it to influence market odds. Kalshi also penalized other political candidates for betting on their own races, including Ben Midgley, Laurie Buckhout, and Stephen Cloobeck. In addition to the lifetime ban, Kalshi fined Santos $71,356 over this activity. This follows a separate CFTC settlement two months earlier where Santos agreed to pay an additional $35,000 for similar conduct. Santos responded on X by mocking the decision and questioning how long Kalshi will remain in operation.
