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Biden administration’s push to forgive student loan debt is almost ‘un-American’: Kevin O’Leary
O’Leary suggests Biden’s student debt relief efforts will be unpopular among voters
President Biden’s decision to cancel student loan debt is once again under fire, causing one popular investor to label the act as “un-American.”
During his appearance Thursday on “FOX & Friends,” O’Leary Ventures Chairman and “Shark Tank” veteran Kevin O’Leary said the administration’s student debt cancelation is “unfair.”
O’Leary continued, arguing that it’s the individual’s “responsibility” to pay back their debt when taking the steps to obtain a college degree.
“Why would one cohort of graduates in this particular time be forgiven their loan when everybody else that came before them or after them potentially has to pay back their debt?” he stressed.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced an additional $4.8 billion in student loan debt relief, which would affect more than 80,000 borrowers.
“Forgiving debt is such a horrific idea,” O’Leary told co-host Steve Doocy.
“What about if you were in the military and you served your country, and then you went and borrowed money, 60, $80,000, and you have to pay it back and these people don’t? I mean, that’s just wrong,” he expressed.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that federal law does not allow the secretary of education to cancel more than $430 billion in student loan debt. The court’s decision was swiftly condemned by the president.
“I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families,” Biden said in a statement.
“I find this [is] just something that many people are going to find offensive because it’s so unfair,” O’Leary said.
What makes these cohorts “so special?” he asked, arguing that “many voters won’t like it.”
“It’ll become an issue” as the 2024 presidential election nears, O’Leary continued.
During the GOP’s fourth debate on Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the country’s student debt problem.
In an effort to get to the “root of the problem,” DeSantis suggested that student loans should be “backed by the universities because they need to have an incentive to produce gainful employment for people.”
“It’s a creative solution to an issue that’s even larger,” O’Leary said in response to the Florida governor’s proposal.
“We’re less than a year away from choosing a new president. I love it when we’re teaching our young to be fiscally responsible. That’s what we need to do,” he explained.
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