A Florida Democrat who ended her candidacy for a State House seat in late June admitted to authorities that she lied about treating the Pulse shooting victims as a medical doctor, according to documents from Florida’s Department of Health obtained Wednesday.
“I lied,” Elizabeth McCarthy told investigators, Florida Politics reported. “It is a false statement.”
McCarthy, 50, claimed throughout her campaign that she was a doctor who practiced at Orlando Regional Medical Center as a cardiologist the night of the mass shooting at the LGBT nightclub in 2016.
“I personally removed 77 bullets from 32 people … It was like an assembly line,” McCarthy claimed at a gun safety event earlier this year.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that other politicians bought into her false narrative, convincing Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) to introduce her at town hall events as a “doctor.”
Florida Politics began digging into her claims in June, prompting the state’s Department of Health to investigate the claims even further.
The Department of Health’s investigation confirmed that there was no record of her operating as a licensed medical professional. McCarthy then admitted she “made it up” to “be somebody in the community.”
“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.”
The department fined her $3,094.95 for telling people she operated as a medical professional and served a cease-and-desist order that would bar her from telling anyone else she is a medical professional.
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