Lauren Boebert’s Restaurant Did Not Receive A PPP Loan
The Claim
Gun Rights Activist and U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert Received a Paycheck Protection Loan for her Colorado restaurant.
News posted on
Emerging story
Often controversial Republican Representative Lauren Boebert gave a speech at a Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday in which she described her views on pandemic relief benefits. “We’re here to tell the government: ‘we don’t want your benefits, we don’t want your welfare,” she said. “Don’t come knocking on my door with your Fauci ouchie.”
Soon after, many high-profile leftist commentators began claiming that Boebert’s Colorado Restaurant, Shooters Grill, had received a large Paycheck Protection Program Loan. PPP loans are part of a government-backed COVID-19 relief package intended to help small businesses. Posts called Boebert a hypocrite for accepting the loan.
Misbar’s Analysis
There is no federal record that shows that Lauren Boebert ever received a PPP loan. The rumor may have emerged because a restaurant with a similar name received the benefits. Records show that there are several restaurants called Shooters that received PPP loans, but none of them belong to Boebert.
Social media users did not only hone in on Boebert’s comments about pandemic benefits. The hashtag #laurenboebertisamonster has been trending on Twitter in response to the phrase “Fauci ouchie,” from her CPAC speech. Posts accuse Boebert of undermining the pandemic’s impact on American citizens.
Boebert is the subject of a false claim in this case, but she has also been accused of spreading misinformation. In March, the Washington Post investigated Boebert’s “origin story” on her beliefs about gun rights and found it to be inaccurate. She made a claim in May that Texas had not reported a single death from COVID-19 after removing their mask mandate, when in fact over 3,000 Texans had been infected. She also claimed that liberals were responsible for the spread of HIV; has backed misinformation about the 2020 election results; and has vocally supported Qanon’s conspiracy theories.
