How Biden Changed His Mind on Student Loan Forgiveness

“President Biden had doubts. In private conversations with White House staffers and allies in Congress this spring, he said he worried that voters who’d never gone to college could resent a move to cancel huge amounts of student debt, according to four Democratic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private talks. Biden also said that the federal government should not be bailing out Ivy League graduates, and that his children should not qualify for help,” the Washington Post reports.

Said one senior Democrat: “He was nervous about how it would play with working-class people.”

“But a relentless campaign was pressing Biden to embrace dramatic action: There were private appeals aboard Air Force One, the courting of first lady Jill Biden, months of political and economic arguments from senior White House staffers, and warnings by Black lawmakers about the dangers of doing too little. In the end, Biden came around.”

Hamilton Nolan: The lesson from Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness? Go big or go home.