President Biden has yet to keep the promise he made to voters to eliminate student loan debt.
On the campaign trail, President Biden said forgiving student loan debt is something that “should be done immediately”.
Biden’s presidency had the biggest youth voter turnout in recent years, largely due to Biden’s promise of student loan forgiveness. Now youth, especially those who have taken on student loans, are wondering if President Biden intends to keep the promise he made to Americans on the campaign trail.
Some Winthrop students have strong opinions about Biden not yet keeping his promise to young voters.
“I feel like by doing that he’s failing and letting down almost the entirety of the people who voted for him. Most of us are college-aged, and not only that, but the students who statistically hold the most student loan debt are Black Americans, more specifically Black women. It feels as though he’s not only pushing aside the needs of the marginalized groups he claims to support, but the needs of a majority of the people who trusted him with their vote,” said Mary Abrahamson, a sophomore secondary English education major.
A common theme among those who are upset about Biden’s lack of action when it comes to cancelling student loans is that if he doesn’t get it done, it will be one of the biggest failures of his presidency.
“Something about being elected by a young demographic and then backing out on all your promises really rubs me the wrong way,” said Olivia Corby, a junior psychology major. “It makes me wonder if he actually had any intentions to begin with or if everything he said was false promises. It also seems cruel and unusual to hold your people to all this debt when the government is trillions of dollars in debt and they get to roll with those punches while American citizens are fighting for their life.”
Biden seems to be neck deep in a round of the blame game, blaming Congress for the inaction to student loan forgiveness, despite being the one to promise it. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated, “If Congress sends him a bill, he’s happy to sign it. They haven’t sent him a bill on that yet.”
With the midterm election coming up later this year, the democratic party has to wonder whether their inability to pass student loan forgiveness through either Congress or by Executive Order, will make or break the election results.
