The White House faced heavy criticism on Wednesday after President Joe Biden announced a new round of student loan debt forgiveness worth nearly $8 billion.
This latest tranche of debt forgiveness, affecting more than 160,000 borrowers, brings the total number of borrowers who have seen their debt forgiven by the president to 4.75 million.
Republicans were quick to claim that Biden’s student loan efforts amount to an attempt to buy votes ahead of the 2024 election, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) calling the debt forgiveness “shameful” earlier on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced several questions on the topic during Wednesday’s press briefing, in which she attempted to flip Johnson’s critique on its head.
“What is shameful is that Republicans continue to get in the way of helping us deliver a little bit of breathing room for Americans who deserve that opportunity,” she told reporters. “This is a president who has been very clear about making sure that he’s building an economy that leaves no one behind.”
Still, reporters continued to press Jean-Pierre on how people who did not go to college might feel about the initiative and its mounting cost to taxpayers.
“I hear your question, but this is — if you look at what the president has done more holistically over the past 3 1/2 years, he has tried to build an economy for everyone. This is one part of this economic policy,” she countered.
During one of her responses, a reporter objected to Jean-Pierre’s rhetoric that student borrowers are “literally being crushed,” prompting the press secretary to amend her answer.
“Financially, OK?” she retorted. “Crushed financially, and so they’re trying to get their lives back on track.”
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“What we believe is student debt cancellation gives an opportunity for Americans to start a life, to buy a house, or to start a family,” Jean-Pierre concluded. “That adds to the economy and is also important to the economy. And it gives, again, a little bit of breathing room so that they can actually take action and do things that, that they’ve yearned to do.”
You can watch Wednesday’s briefing in full below.
