Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign rolled out an advertisement Wednesday featuring a business owner railing against President Donald Trump for supposedly not doing enough to help American businesses.
But the ad neglected to note that the owner benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program that Trump signed into law.
Tiffany Easley received $27,000 in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program in April when the economic lockdowns impacted her business, NV My Eyewear. Easley disclosed her loan during a June 11 roundtable with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, but she did not mention the forgivable loan in the ad while thrashing Trump for “making everything worse.”
Small businesses are the backbone of communities across our nation, and we need to do so much more to help them. Donald Trump may have forgotten about them — but I never will. pic.twitter.com/RDYKzt1Qc1
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 1, 2020
“I had to permanently close one location and furlough my employees,” Easley says in the ad. “Donald Trump and his administration left the American people behind, the people he is supposed to protect and serve. Small businesses—they need a partner in the White House, and that’s why I’m with Joe.”
She also received a much smaller grant from the Philadelphia COVID-19 Small Business Relief Fund, according to an April 24 BillyPen report. The PPO loan Easley received can be forgiven if she uses it to rehire staff.
The Washington Free Beacon initially reported Easley’s role in the ad Thursday as well as her loan. (RELATED: Trump Signs PPP Reform Bill Making It Easier For Small Businesses To Spend Relief Funds)
Trump signed the loan program into law in April to help businesses that are struggling after local officials instituted stay at home orders to slow the pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, before spreading to the United States, where it has killed more than 128,000 people.
The lockdowns resulted in tens of millions of job losses as well as a prolonged economic recession.
“Thanks to this fast surge of support for small business owners like Tiffany, tens of millions of workers continued to receive paychecks,” Ali Pardo, the campaign’s deputy communications director, told the Free Beacon, referring to what he said was the Trump administration’s quick action.
Pardo added: “The fact is, President Trump is restoring the historically strong economy he built before and there’s nothing Joe Biden can do to stop it.”
Neither Biden’s campaign nor Easily responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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