White House Trolls GOP Politicians Over Biden’s Loan Forgiveness

After President Joe Biden revealed his student loan forgiveness plan last week, six GOP members blasted Biden for it, but the White House responded in a way no one saw coming.

The White House clapped back by posting the six GOP member’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness amounts. The method, known as trolling, is used by many across social media, but for the White House’s official Twitter account to use it speaks to the hypocrisy of the Republican politicians.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven.https://t.co/4FoCymt8TB

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 25, 2022

According to the White House, Congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who said the student loan debt forgiveness was “completely unfair,” had $181,504 in PPP loans forgiven.

The other five GOP members called out by the White House include Florida’s Vern Buchanan ($2.3 million forgiven) and Matt Gaetz ($482,321); Oklahoma’s Markwayne Mullin ($1.4 million) and Kevin Hern ($1 million), and Pennsylvania’s Mike Kelly ($987,237).

“We’ve never hesitated to call out hypocrisy, and we’re not going to stop now,” Alexandra LaManna, a White House spokeswoman, told reporters when asked about the tweets on Friday.

“It’s important to make clear that many of the same people calling student loan debt relief — which will help the middle class and working families by giving them more breathing room — a bailout for the wealthy had no issue with loan bailouts that benefited their own companies, and no issue with giving tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy.”

While the PPP was set up to have the loans forgiven, student loan debt has trapped thousands of students, especially Black students, whether they graduated or not. According to a study by Real Estate Witch, the average student loan debt for Black millennials is $80,000.

Biden’s plan will extend the COVID-19 student loan pause through the end of the year and forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for Americans who make less than $125,000 a year. The plan will forgive $20,000 in loan debt for those who took out Pell Grants to pay for college. Those with undergraduate loans will also be able to cap their monthly payment at 5% of their income.

Many Democrats supported Biden’s plan, but some, including progressives that pushed for Biden to cancel the debt entirely, say his plan doesn’t go far enough.

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Mastro (D-NV) said in separate statements that the debt relief was not targeted enough at low-income students and those who are entering traditionally low-paying fields, including rural healthcare and urban social work.