Fact Check: Joe Biden Said Trump Did ‘Nothing to Help Small Businesses’ During Pandemic

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at his Trump National Golf Club in
AP Photo/Susan Walsh

CLAIM: Joe Biden said during the first presidential debate in Cleveland Tuesday night that President Donald Trump has done “nothing to help small businesses” during the coronavirus pandemic.

VERDICT: FALSE. Trump’s “centerpiece” of his coronavirus relief effort was the Paycheck Protection Program.

Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the Job Creators Network (JCN), said in a statement following the debate that Joe Biden made “one of the biggest gaffes in debate history by claiming Trump has done nothing to help small businesses during the pandemic.

He explained:

Maybe he forgot the Paycheck Protection Program – the centerpiece of President Trump’s COVID relief efforts that delivered over $500 billion to small businesses and saved 51 million jobs. On top of that, President Trump’s record tax cuts and regulatory relief created the best economy in history before the pandemic struck.

Ortiz said Trump is now working to reopen the country, which Biden criticized during the debate, claiming the president is unconcerned about Americans’ safety.

“Biden is on record saying he will shut the economy down again if another wave occurs,” Ortiz said. “That would devastate our economy.”

He added that Biden’s economic plan, as observed during the debate by moderator Chris Wallace, would raise taxes by $4 trillion.

Ortiz said, in addition to this immense tax hike, Biden would oversee the launch of the Green New Deal and would “socialize major parts of our economy, and enact a gradual government takeover of our healthcare system.”

“President Trump, by contrast, has unveiled a healthcare reform vision that reflects the principles of Job Creators Network Foundation’s ‘Healthcare for You’ framework – lower costs, more choices, and better care,” he asserted.

“We don’t need Obamacare 2.0,” Ortiz concluded. “We need to empower the free market in healthcare and all sectors of our economy. That is the key to our long-term prosperity.”

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