Steven Crowder Calls Out Kamala Harris Over Small Businesses

Steven Crowder has lashed out at Vice President Kamala Harris over a post shared on Twitter stating the importance of investing in small businesses.

On May 20, a post shared on Harris' Twitter account included a graphic of a quote attributed to her, reading: "When we invest in small businesses, we invest in jobs, opportunity, innovation, and in America,

"Small businesses are the backbone of America's economy.

Conservative commentator Crowder quickly clapped back at the assertion, writing in a quote tweet: "You shut them all down during the pandemic..."

While a number of Crowder's followers agreed with his post, others pointed out that it was Donald Trump who was president when the COVID-19 pandemic led to business lockdowns across the U.S. from the spring of 2020. President Joe Biden and Harris were inaugurated in January 2021.

It has been estimated that between February and April 2020, there was a decrease of 3.3 million in active business owners. One study suggested that there were 37.5 percent fewer small businesses open in the U.S. in June 2021 compared to January 2020.

While it has proved difficult to determine exactly how many of those closures were permanent as opposed to temporary, it stands as testimony to the impact the pandemic and subsequent governmental responses had on the economy.

Back in January, Trump dismissed claims that COVID-19 vaccines are broadly unsafe while asserting that his own role in the development of the vaccines may have saved 100 million lives.

Trump touted the effectiveness of Operation Warp Speed, his administration's program to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, during an interview on the conservative podcast The Water Cooler.

Host David Brody asked the former president if he would "acknowledge" that the vaccines "were not as safe or effective as we were told by the medical community at the time," after repeating a number of unsubstantiated anti-vaccine claims.

"I was able to get something approved that, you know, that has proven to have saved a lot of lives," Trump said, ignoring Brody's request to weigh in on the anti-vaccine narrative. "Some people say that I saved 100 million lives worldwide."

Trump touted the speed of vaccine development under his program, saying that he was "able to get [the vaccines] done in nine months," as opposed to what he claimed would have been "five years to 12 years."

The former president said that it was "very important" to note that he did not order lockdowns or a federal vaccine mandate and had "never forced anyone" to get the shots. He also praised Republican governors for refusing mandates and lockdowns at the state level.

However, he singled out his potential 2024 GOP primary opponent Ron DeSantis for pandemic policy criticism, pointing out that the Florida governor had shut down his state "for a period of time."

The former president has at times seemingly attempted to avoid mentioning vaccines, possibly due to the shots remaining unpopular among Republicans.

"After China unleashed this deadly virus onto the rest of the world, President Trump and his administration worked tirelessly to secure medical equipment to save the lives of Americans who were infected," Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement given to Newsweek. "Operation Warp Speed was a once-in-a-lifetime initiative that gave people the option of utilizing therapeutics if they wished to do so.

"He also fought against any attempt to federalize the pandemic response by protecting every state's right to ultimately decide what is best for their people because of the unique challenges each state faced. In coordination with governors across the country, President Trump provided assistance and equipment as requested or if needed.

"By contrast, Joe Biden incomprehensibly failed to continue the Trump Administration's successes he inherited, with more COVID deaths under Biden than President Trump in the same amount of time."

The World Health Organization announced on May 5 that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency.