(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., mocked President Joe Biden’s now-defunct student debt forgiveness scheme and even announced the Republican Party’s own plan in a radio interview on Saturday.
“All loans matter, okay? The President never explained why student loans should be forgiven and credit card debt shouldn’t be,” Kennedy stated in the interview.
In a lighthearted exchange, the radio host joked, “I want my mortgage forgiven,” to which Kennedy responded, “Number two, we already had a plan to repay student debt—it’s called a job.”
Kennedy further expressed his belief that most Americans do not agree with the concept of burdening those who paid off their debts or did not incur debt with the responsibility of paying off the debts of others who used loans to obtain a college education.
“I never believed that most Americans agree with this. That it was fair to ask people who either paid off their debt or didn’t incur their debt to pay the debt of people who used that debt to get a college degree,” Kennedy explained.
Regarding the recent Supreme Court decision which effectively shut down Biden’s plan, Kennedy stated, “The Supreme Court didn’t get into the policy, the Supreme Court just said, ‘Pretty clearly, you don’t have to be Euclid to figure this out, that on the Constitution, only Congress can appropriate money, the president can’t.'”
Biden on giving those w/ student loans false hope: "I didn't give any false hope" pic.twitter.com/r5wLpy4jUM
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 30, 2023
Kennedy’s criticism of President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan comes after the Supreme Court rejected Biden’s attempt to utilize a Department of Education’s debt forgiveness plan, originally intended for veterans, as a means to gain political support.
Previously, Biden admitted that he did not have the authority to implement such a plan, but pursued it anyway. The Supreme Court even cited former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s remarks, in which she emphasized that Congress, not the president, held the power to issue such plans.
“People think that the president of the United States has the power for [student loan] debt forgiveness. He does not.” — Nancy Pelosi (July 2021)pic.twitter.com/0iz8uQeKXG
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 30, 2023
This is not the first time Kennedy has criticized the Democratic Party’s efforts to alleviate the burden of college graduates’ debts unfairly. In September 2022, he took to Twitter and wrote, “We already had a plan to repay student debt. It’s called a job, and it was working just fine before Pres. Biden decided to transfer debt from coastal elites who chose to take out loans to hardworking Americans who didn’t.”
Kennedy’s remarks highlight the ongoing debate surrounding student loan forgiveness and the division between Republicans and Democrats on this issue. The topic continues to generate discussion and remains a prominent part of the political landscape.
