Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ (I-Vt.) former campaign press secretary Briahna Joy Gray says President Joe Biden is using the “specter of the occasional Harvard student” to “justify” not erasing up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower.
During a town hall event hosted by CNN on Tuesday, Biden claimed that he does not have the authority to unilaterally cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt.
But during an interview on The Hill TV’s “Rising,” Gray disputed that as she said, “It’s not true, Joe Biden has the authority to cancel all student loan debt.”
She claimed that the government now sees students taking out loans for college as “risky behavior.”
Gray went on the suggest Biden is using the “specter of the occasional Harvard student as an excuse not to cancel debt” for the “overwhelming majority” of students who did not go to Harvard.
“It is almost as though Joe Biden is trying to find the most unsympathetic character in the world to justify not pursuing a very sympathetic program,” she added.
During the town hall, Biden was asked how he would cancel $50,000 in student loan debt. He said he would not, as IJR reported.
“I’m prepared to write off the $10,000 debt, but not [$50,000],” he clarified.
But, on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that was simply the president’s previous position and that he had not yet made a final decision on the matter.
“First on last night’s town hall… [Biden] was reiterating his previously stated position, which is he doesn’t favor $50,000 in student loan relief without limitation,” she said.
Psaki also said believe believes any student debt relief beyond $10,000 would depend on whether the borrower went to a public or private school, whether they went to a graduate or undergraduate school, and what their income is.
