White nationalist publisher allowed to keep $76,106 PPP loan: report

According to a report from the Daily Beast's William Bredderman, the publisher behind the white nationalist VDare organization that maintains a website featuring inflammatory racist attacks on non-whites, was handed a Paycheck Protection Program loan of over $76,0000 -- money that was targetted by the government for struggling businesses crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the height of the pandemic that hammered the U.S. economy on Donald Trump's watch, PPP loans were offered to businesses to keep the doors open and their employees working as the economy collapsed.

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), PPP loans are entirely forgivable if companies "... during the 8- to 24-week covered period following loan disbursement:

• Employee and compensation levels are maintained
• The loan proceeds are spent on payroll costs and other eligible expenses; and
• At least 60% of the proceeds are spent on payroll costs

As Bredderman reports, $76,106 was distributed to Happy Penguins LLC. which the report states is an "..entity [that] belongs to Peter Brimelow, head of the VDARE Foundation and its eponymous website, and to his wife, who serves as the nonprofit's advancement officer."

According to the Daily Beast report, "Brimelow has long been a bitter polemicist against nonwhite arrivals to the United States, and has claimed that Latinos 'specialize in rape, particularly of children' and that 'Haitians have very high crime levels.' But he has denied being a white nationalist personally, even unsuccessfully suing the New York Times last year for applying the label to him. A veteran of Forbes and the National Review, he has also maintained ties to elements of the conservative mainstream."

Despite his reputation, Brimelow successfully applied for the loan despite having what was described as "a robust cash flow."

Bredderman writes, "Internal Revenue Service records show that the VDARE Foundation paid it $411,003 for 'leased employees' in 2019, the most recent year for which filings are available. The nonprofit routed the company $181,675 in 2018 and $148,303 the year before that. Brimelow, who received a direct salary of $345,364 from the VDARE Foundation in 2019, told the Associated Press in 2016 that he uses Happy Penguins to pay himself and other employees."

The report goes on to note that "Happy Penguins reported having two people on payroll when it applied for the PPP loan."

According to Jared Holt, an expert on extremism at the Atlantic Council, "This is a type of white nationalist organization that is trying to posture itself as 'the thinking man's white nationalism.' Any instances where they are obtaining any veneer of legitimacy are very concerning."

As for the loan that will be forgiven, Holt explained to Bredderman, " ... the rules Congress established for the program do not discriminate based on the content or character of a company's work, and grants forgiveness based on whether the enterprise keeps employee compensation constant and dedicates the funds only to approved expenses."

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