Fact Check-Lauren Boebert’s restaurant did not receive a $233,305 PPP loan

Posts are falsely saying that the restaurant run by Congresswoman Lauren Boebert in Rifle, Colorado received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. The posts, some of which mention the sum $233,305 for the loan, are confusing her restaurant with an unrelated one with a similar name. A representative for Boebert confirmed she had not received the loan and an open database using government data corroborates this.

Examples can be seen here , here and here .

The text in one post reads: “As a bard I should NEVER be without words but this one… I mean… I have a hard time believing she is so stupid as to think that the help she got wasn’t some kind of social program. Right? Or is the goal just to keep screaming about socialism as a boogieman until their base will do ANYTHING to stop it even when things like police, fire departments, social security and Medicare help millions? Don’t forget, she also got tens of millions of dollars in PPP money. But “socialism baaaaaad.””

PPP loans are a program backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) aimed at helping businesses keep afloat during the pandemic (here).

Under the PPP, big banks, community lenders and fintechs have dispensed millions of government-backed loans to small businesses hurt by lockdowns. If borrowers spend the money on payroll and other business expenses, the government repays the lender on behalf of the borrower (here).

Boebert, 34, caused a stir after vowing to carry her Glock pistol when she is at work in the U.S. Capitol and making statements supportive of the debunked conspiracy theory “QAnon”. The self-described “5-foot tall, 100-pound” member of the House of Representatives has said that she intends to protect her Second Amendment right to bear arms and that of her constituents – even if things in the nation’s capital are not done quite the same as in Rifle, Colorado, where she operates the Shooters Grill restaurant (here).

A database by ProPublica tracking companies approved for PPP loans using SBA data does not show an approved loan for a “Shooters Grill” located in Rifle, Colorado, however (here).

It does show an approved loan for a similar sounding restaurant “Shooters Sports Grill LLC” located in Loveland, Ohio for $233,305 (here).

There are records of approved loans for other restaurants with similar names in different locations such as Montana (here), Maryland (here), Tennessee (here) and more (here).

Benjamin Stout, deputy chief and communications director for Boebert, also told Reuters via email that she “did not receive a PPP loan.”

VERDICT

False. Rep. Lauren Boebert did not receive a PPP loan for her Shooters Grill restaurant in Rifle, Colorado. The posts confuse Boebert’s restaurant with another of a similar name in Loveland, Ohio.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work  here  .