White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently defended President Biden’s student debt forgiveness agenda when she was asked a question by a reporter who implied that it was unfair to those who did not attend college.
NBC’s Peter Alexander pointed out that nearly 5 million Americans have received, on average, $35,000 of relief on their student debt. On the principle of fairness, he pressed KJP to explain why everyone else in the country would not receive a check for the same amount.
“Just to put a fine point on it right now for the 4.7 million Americans who have received this debt relief. The average as you said at the start of this visit was $35,000. Their Relief has been for so I guess why don’t those individuals who didn’t receive $35,000 in debt cancellation deserve a $35,000 check from other Americans for what other means they would want to use it,” he asked.
The press secretary responded, “We’re talking. about folks who are in debt who are literally being crushed literally being crushed because they took a they took…” Alexander interrupted, “They’re not literally being crushed.” KJP continued, “Financially, okay, is that okay with you? Okay….but crushed financially. And, and so they’re trying to get their lives back on track, right.”
President Biden has long touted his administration’s efforts to forgive student debt for millions of borrowers. However, the Supreme Court struck down his administration’s attempt to do so in a 6-3 ruling last year, stating that the move extended beyond the authority of the Department of Education.
“From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” the president said in a statement. “I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.”
The American Tribune reported on other recent remarks from Jean-Pierre, in which she was asked by Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy about the negative sentiment toward President Joe Biden. Doocy asked the press secretary, “Why do you think Americans are so down on President Biden right now?” KJP hit back, asking for clarification. “What do you mean?” she responded. For context, recent polling data shows that Biden is losing in five out of six swing states.
“I know you don’t like to talk about polls, like, the five of six swing states that he is losing right now to somebody who is a criminal defendant,” Doocy said. “But, more broadly, it doesn’t seem like anything you guys are doing is making him more popular. Why do you think that is?”
KJP shifted the blame toward external events such as the war in Ukraine. “We understand that people are still feeling this. We get that and we’re not, we’re not blind to that,” Jean-Pierre said. She proceeded to cite several Biden initiatives that would supposedly improve the circumstances for Americans, such as lowering healthcare costs, addressing pharmaceutical companies, and eliminating junk fees.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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