Briahna Joy Gray, former press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, criticized the Biden administration for not immediately pushing forward with some of its bigger campaign promises, arguing that the White House will have a harder time following through on its agenda should the GOP win control in Congress.
In a recent briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked why President Biden’s proposed American Families Plan only includes two years of free community college for Americans, when Biden on the campaign trail said he would aim to make all public colleges and universities free for families who earn $125,000 or less.
Gray in a Wednesday interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” pushed back on Psaki said that they are still in the early days of the administration and that the American Families Plan “is not the totality of what the president hopes to do on education.”
“What this response misses is two things,” Gray began. “First, it misses the fact that, historically, the administration in charge loses seats in midterm elections.”
“So, Biden doesn’t have four years to accomplish what he needs to accomplish,” she added.
“Second, it ignores the extent to which there is really no reason not to give Americans what they need now, especially when we’re talking about really essential programs that he’s promised during his campaign, things like a $15 minimum wage when people are struggling in the middle of an economic crisis, things like decriminalizing marijuana while people are still getting locked up every single day,” Gray continued.
Gray went on to say that Biden could cancel student debt by executive order, adding, “If something can be done by executive order with the flick of Joe Biden’s pen, why on Earth is, ‘We’ll do it later,’ any kind of excuse? Why not now?”
Watch part of Gray’s interview above.
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