Florida Dem admits lying about treating Pulse shooting victims: 'I just made it up'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Florida Democrat who ended her run for a seat in the state's House of Representatives late last month admitted to authorities that her claim of being a medical doctor who treated Pulse nightclub shooting victims in Orlando wasn't true, according to a charging affidavit released this week.
“I lied,” Elizabeth McCarthy told state investigators, Florida Politics reported. "It is a false statement."
During her candidacy, McCarthy, 50, told people she was a doctor at Orlando Regional Medical Center and treated 32 victims of the 2016 massacre.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I lied. It is a false statement."
“I personally removed 77 bullets from 32 people … It was like an assembly line,” McCarthy claimed at a gun safety event earlier this year.
On at least two occasions, McCarthy was introduced at public events as "a doctor" by Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Florida Politics began investigating her claims last month, prompting an investigation by the Florida Department of Health, which confirmed it had no record of her as a licensed medical professional.
“I just made it up,” she told investigators, adding that she was portraying a life she invented.
“I wanted to be somebody in the community, and I’m sorry," she said. "I’m sorry that I gave any impersonation. I knew it was wrong and I should have stopped.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I wanted to be somebody in the community, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I gave any impersonation. I knew it was wrong and I should have stopped.”
Elizabeth McCarthy. (Facebook)
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Last month, she claimed in a Facebook post that she was a victim of “campaign smearing.”
McCarthy has been fined $3,094.95 for misrepresenting herself as a medical professional and is barred from telling anyone else she is a doctor, Florida Politics reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Forty-nine people died at Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016, when a gunman entered and opened fire at patrons.