Ben Shapiro hits back at claims he took PPP loan relief

Ben Shapiro has been one of the most outspoken critics of president Joe Biden’s plans to offer people student debt relief in the US – and people thought they'd found a big flaw in his argument.

Biden is giving those who took out federal student loans to pay for their college education, and who make less than $125,000 a year, up to $10,000 in debt in a bid to curb the growing student debt crisis.

Millions will now have $10,000 of their debts cancelled, while the pandemic-era pause on payments will continue through to 31st December.

It hasn’t gone down well with US conservative commentator Shapiro, who tweeted: “I have a controversial idea about paying off student loan debt: don't take out debt you will likely be unable to pay off, and don't ask others to pay off your debts.”

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“I know it has somehow become controversial to say this, but societies in which people are expected to pay off their debts are healthier than societies in which others are forced to do so,” he added.

Plenty of social media users were quick to state their own views, with one placing the blame at the hands of student loan companies, rather than the students themselves.

“Then stop letting predatory student loan companies hand out giant loans to unemployed 18 year olds with no collateral or knowledge of what they're signing,” one wrote.

Others claimed that Shapiro had relief for a federal loan for $20,000, with one sharing a screenshot suggesting that he received funds as a loan he didn’t have to repay - something which Shapiro later spoke out to deny on social media.

Twitter users replied to Shapiro with screenshots from ProPublica, which hosts a searchable database of PPP loan disbursements. On the database there’s a listing for a “Ben Shapiro” who lives in Shapiro’s hometown of Los Angeles.

However, when contacted for comment, Shapiro's representatives denied the claims.

"Not only is it a lie, it is an obvious lie -- the screencap itself shows that this is a different person," they said.

Shapiro later tweeted to deny the claims made on social media, writing: "So they found a person named Ben Shapiro who applied for and received a loan in Los Angeles in 2021. Here's the full screenshot -- notice the same amount. As you may know, I am not a real estate agent or broker."

indy100 has reached out to Shapiro for comment.

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