On Tuesday, Kamala Harris joined Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at a Treasury Department event, during which she tried to credit the Biden administration for a program that actually happened under Trump.
Harris, in an attempt to prove that the Biden administration is a friend to small businesses, took credit for the Paycheck Protection Program, which was part of the CARES Act that Trump signed in March of 2020.
“What we did at the beginning with the American Rescue Plan, in addition to the Child Tax Credit, was about recognizing that part of the economic lifeblood of all communities are small businesses. That they are not only part of the economic lifeblood, if you connect a thriving economy with a thriving community, and understand that our Small business leaders are also civic leaders. They are also community leaders,” she said. “And what we did with the PPP program, and also what we did to recognize how previous outreaches, particularly to minority and women-owned businesses, have not worked, and so let’s do a better job of engaging them, and the long-term goal there was that through what we did to better engage in a rescue approach would be what we would do to engage in terms of a continuing investment approach.”
Was Harris unaware that PPP was not a Biden administration accomplishment? She should know, as she was in the Senate when it passed. Harris’ allies might even argue that she simply meant she was there when it passed, but, in this context, she was clearly trying to toot the Biden administration’s horn, and her citing PPP suggests she was trying to assume credit for a program created by Trump’s signature, not Biden’s.
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