A healthcare investment firm started by former Vice President Joe Biden’s son-in-law received upwards of $350,000 in forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
StartUp Health, a medical-focused investment and consulting firm, received between $150,000 and $350,000 in April from the coronavirus relief program. The company is run, in part, by Dr. Howard Krein, the husband of Biden’s daughter, Ashley. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the connection on Friday.
Funding disbursement data for the PPP program indicates that StartUP Health received the sum in the form of a potentially forgivable loan meant to protect 18 jobs within the company, which has been impacted by the onset of the novel coronavirus.
The revelations about StartUp Health’s loan comes as Biden castigates President Donald Trump on the campaign trail for not doing enough to mitigate the economic fallout of the pandemic. In particular, Biden has accused Trump of putting the interests of big corporations first when it comes to coronavirus relief, even alleging the incumbent has “forgotten” about small businesses as the virus rages across much of the country. “Make no mistake, we’re still in a deep, deep job hole because Donald Trump has so badly bungled the response to coronavirus,” Biden said last month.
Given the former vice president’s rhetoric, the Trump campaign seized on the news of StartUp Health’s PPP loan, suggesting if Biden had issues with the White House’s coronavirus relief efforts his family should “return the money to the taxpayers.”
“While his son-in-law’s company received a PPP loan to support the workers at his small business, Biden falsely claimed the program only helped big corporations,” Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s director of communications, said in a statement.
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