Biden to Republicans on student loan plan: ‘Who the hell do they think they are?’

President Biden on Friday bashed Republicans who have attacked his student loan forgiveness plan, calling out certain lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (Ga.).

“Ted Cruz, the great senator from Texas, he said it’s for slackers — quote slackers — who don’t deserve relief. Who the hell do they think they are?” Biden said in remarks at Delaware State University.

The president specifically criticized lawmakers who have opposed his student loan forgiveness plan but who received small business loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I don’t want to hear it from MAGA Republican officials who had hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts, even millions of dollars, in pandemic relief loans forgiven, who now are attacking me for helping working- and middle-class Americans,” he said.

“Marjorie Taylor Green, she and her husband got $180,000 in business loans forgiven from the [Paycheck Protect Program]. She said it’s completely unfair to us to forgive loans for working- and middle-class Americans.”

He also mentioned Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Ga.), who called the plan reckless, but got $2.3 million in business loans forgiven through PPP.

“Their outrage is raw and it’s hypocritical. But you know, we’re not letting them get away with it,” Biden said.

The plan has faced multiple lawsuits, but Biden took a victory lap Friday after Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday denied an emergency bid by a group of Wisconsin taxpayers asking the court to block the program.

A federal judge separately dismissed a legal challenge from six Republican-led states to the plan, ruling that they do not have standing to sue.

The plan is set to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers earning under $125,000 and as much as $20,000 for borrowers who received Pell Grants. Applications officially opened on Monday and, as of Friday, 22 million Americans had applied for forgiveness. 

–Updated at 5:08 p.m.