Democrat Senate Candidates Benefited from PPP Loans While Criticizing Program

TUCSON, AZ - JANUARY 20: Mark Kelly, husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), speak
John Moore/Getty Images

Three Senate Democrat candidates have criticized the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) despite benefiting from it, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Washington Examiner’s Emily Larsen reported Wednesday that three Senate Democrat candidates have benefitted from the PPP loan program. These include Cal Cunningham, the challenger to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC); Mark Kelly, who faces Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ); and Sara Gideon, who hopes to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

Gideon, who is Maine’s state House speaker, attacked Collins for suggesting that campaign contributions pushed Collins to write a “loophole” into the legislation that established the PPP to benefit out-of-state hotels.

The personal injury law firm for which Gideon’s husband works received a PPP loan between $1 and 2 million.

Cunningham also warned that PPP could lead to corruption.

“We’ve seen that money end up in some of the wrong hands,” Cunningham said in May.

Yet WasteZero, an eco-friendly trash reduction company for which Cunningham worked, received a PPP loan between $1 and $2 million in May. Cunningham left WasteZero in March to focus on his Senate bid.

Kelly wrote in June that “too many small business owners were left with no relief, especially those in tribal communities.”

However, World View Enterprises, a space company Kelly cofounded, received a PPP loan between $1 and $2 million.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) communications director Jesse Hunt made a statement Wednesday decrying these Senate Democrats as hypocrites for criticizing the very programs from which they benefited. He said:

Cal Cunningham, Mark Kelly, and Sara Gideon spent months shamelessly criticizing a COVID relief program that is enormously popular and has helped millions across the country. It turns out these Democrats took advantage of the very legislation they criticized.

“This is more proof they blindly wield Chuck Schumer’s talking points without any actual regard for how hypocritical they may be,” Hunt added.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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