An image shared on Facebook claims Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert’s restaurant, Shooters Grill, received a $233,305 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan.

Screenshot/Facebook

Verdict: False

The $233,305 PPP loan mentioned in the post went to a different, unaffiliated restaurant in Ohio. Publicly available PPP loan recipient data does not show Boebert’s restaurant receiving a PPP loan.

Fact Check:

Boebert spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday. At one point, she said, “We’re here to tell the government we don’t want your benefits, we don’t want your welfare,” according to Newsweek.

Following the comment, social media users started sharing the claim that Boebert’s restaurant received a PPP loan. One such Facebook post shows a now-deleted tweet from commentator Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast that reads, “Lauren Boebert’s restaurant received a $233,305 PPP check and she receives a $174,000 taxpayer-funded salary.” (Full disclosure: Daily Caller Inc, the parent company of Check Your Fact, received PPP funding in 2020.)

While Boebert does, according to the Denver Post and Politico, own a restaurant named Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado, her restaurant is not listed in ProPublica’s database of companies that received PPP loans. The $233,305 loan mentioned in the post went to a Loveland, Ohio, restaurant called Shooters Sports Grill, according to ProPublica’s PPP loan database.

Shooters Sports Grill does not appear to be affiliated with the Colorado congresswoman. A search for Boebert’s name in the Ohio Secretary of State’s business database turned up no documents listing her as the owner of the restaurant, and the restaurant does not identify her as such on its website. The confusion about the PPP loan seems to have stemmed from the restaurants having similar names.

Boebert’s spokesman, Ben Stout, told CNN the congresswoman doesn’t have any connection to Shooters Sports Grill. Boebert also disputed the claim on Twitter, saying she “DID NOT take any PPP loans.” (RELATED: Did Nancy Pelosi Hide $25 Million For Congressional Pay Raises In The House Coronavirus Stimulus Bill?)

Cohen’s podcast’s Twitter account “No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen,” former West Virginia state senator Richard Ojeda and others tweeted the false claim about Boebert’s restaurant receiving a PPP loan. On July 11, the Twitter account of Cohen’s podcast posted a correction.

Deleted this tweet. The PPP check was for a bar of the same name in a different state. My job is to stop misinformation, not spread it; no excuse for getting this wrong. I apologize to the congresswoman and you all. pic.twitter.com/NX3qIAYGtE

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) July 11, 2021