A story of two Ben Shapiros ensnared a conservative political commentator in what initially seemed to be an instance of loan-forgiveness hypocrisy.
“I’ve a controversial concept about paying off scholar mortgage debt,” conservative commentator Ben Shapiro stated in an Aug. 23 tweet. “Don’t take out debt you’ll doubtless be unable to repay, and do not ask others to repay your money owed.”
“This you?” replied a number of Twitter customers, attaching screenshots that present somebody named Ben Shapiro benefited from $21,000 federal Paycheck Safety Program mortgage forgiveness.
Screenshots of those Twitter exchanges unfold rapidly to different platforms together with Fb.
The posts have been flagged as a part of Fb’s efforts to fight false information and misinformation on its Information Feed. (Learn extra about our partnership with Fb.)
(Screenshot from Fb.)
Though the screenshots seemed damning at first look, a case of mistaken id was at play.
A Los Angeles-based Ben Shapiro obtained almost $21,000 in PPP mortgage forgiveness, however that individual labored in the actual property business, in response to a ProPublica database.
Media character Ben Shapiro lived in California till he moved to South Florida in late 2020, in response to information experiences. Shapiro stated in a Sept. 22, 2021 episode of his present that he’d lived in Florida for a yr. It seems the Shapiro who bought the PPP mortgage is a special individual.
Mortgage forgiveness back-and-forth
President Joe Biden on Aug. 24 introduced his plan to forgive as much as $20,000 of scholar mortgage debt for eligible debtors. The plan drew criticism from many conservative politicians and pundits.
Pushing again, cheerleaders of Biden’s transfer took to social media. They drew parallels between the scholar debt cancellation plan and one other form of debt forgiveness: the federal authorities’s Paycheck Safety Program mortgage forgiveness. That federal program was designed to assist small companies proceed paying staff all through the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and plenty of PPP loans have been forgiven.
Even the White Home bought in on the motion, calling out Republican lawmakers whose PPP loans have been forgiven.
However not everybody exchanging barbs had federal loans forgiven.
Twitter customers who alleged that Shapiro, a conservative commentator and relentless Biden critic who is predicated in Florida, obtained mortgage forgiveness drew their proof from screenshots of ProPublica’s Monitoring PPP database. The database can be utilized to look “each firm accepted for federal loans,” in response to ProPublica’s web site.
However a better take a look at the database signifies {that a} totally different individual named Ben Shapiro was the recipient of a PPP mortgage — and, later, mortgage forgiveness:
(Screenshot from ProPublica.)
A search of ProPublica’s database didn’t present {that a} Florida-based Ben Shapiro within the media business obtained PPP loans.
A search of a second PPP mortgage database, PPP-Mortgage.information, additionally turned up a California-based Ben Shapiro who obtained a federal PPP mortgage value almost $21,000. Each databases report the identical lender, Celtic Financial institution Company. PPP-Mortgage.information confirmed a partial deal with, which we linked to a Los Angeles realtor named Ben J. Shapiro.
We reached out to this Shapiro however didn’t hear again.
Conservative media character Ben Shapiro’s center identify is Aaron.
PolitiFact additionally searched the database to see if the right-wing web site Shapiro based, The Each day Wire, obtained PPP loans. We discovered no proof that it did. The Each day Wire is predicated in Nashville, Tennessee.
Shapiro himself took to Twitter to debunk the claims.
In order that they discovered an individual named Ben Shapiro who utilized for and obtained a mortgage in Los Angeles in 2021. Here is the complete screenshot — discover the identical quantity. As chances are you’ll know, I’m not an actual property agent or dealer. pic.twitter.com/oImtUImdFp
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 24, 2022
Left-wing social media customers “are saying I took PPP cash,” he stated Aug. 24. “It is a lie.”
He added: “As chances are you’ll know, I’m not an actual property agent or dealer.”
Alyssa Cordova, a spokesperson for the Each day Wire and Shapiro, stated neither accepted federal PPP funds.
Our ruling
Screenshots shared on Fb urged that Shapiro obtained virtually $21,000 in PPP mortgage forgiveness.
A California-based actual property business enterprise proprietor named Ben Shapiro obtained almost $21,000 in PPP mortgage forgiveness. Political commentator Ben Shapiro stated it wasn’t him and we discovered no proof contradicting that.
We price these claims False.
PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed analysis to this report.