Cal Cunningham has had a tough week. On July 7, a new report uncovered that Cunningham’s company received between $1-2 million in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program, saving an estimated 115 jobs. But Cunningham has regularly trashed the program on the campaign trail, even while his business benefited from it.
Every day this week Cunningham has shifted his story, tying himself into a human pretzel to explain away these transparent contradictions. Cunningham claimed he had left the company before the loan application went out and wasn’t involved, but later admitted he was aware of it. His campaign claimed he was not employed by the company, then admitted that wasn’t true and claimed he was paid on an hourly basis, and now claims he was being paid on retainer. Cunningham has laughably even claimed he supports the program, when there is a well-documented paper trail of Cunningham calling the program “unacceptable” and claiming it “harms communities” of color, as well as ironically decrying loans “ending up in the wrong hands.”
The funny thing is, Cunningham wrapping himself around the axle over the minutiae of his employment details misses the forest for the trees. Cunningham admits he knew the company was applying for a loan all while he was trashing it on the campaign trail to score political points. He’s a hypocrite, and now he’s lying to try to cover his tracks.
Cunningham should be thanking Thom Tillis for passing the Paycheck Protection Program into law and saving over 100 jobs at Cunningham’s company. We won’t hold our breath.