- VP Harris told Charlamagne tha God the student debt crisis "is real" and "we need to deal with it."
- She didn't respond to his question on Biden's campaign promise to cancel $10k in debt per borrower.
- The White House recently said Congress can introduce a bill that Biden will sign to cancel student debt.
The $1.7 trillion student debt crisis is at the top of many Americans' minds right now, given student-loan payments are resuming in 43 days.
Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged the issue in a recent interview with Charlamagne tha God — but that's about as far as she went.
In response to a question from the talk show host on Comedy Central regarding what happened to President Joe Biden's campaign promise to cancel $10,000 in student debt for every undergraduate borrower, Harris responded:
"I get it, I get the issue that you're talking about. I had student loans. I mean, look, right now we have so many people, tens of millions of people in the United States who are dealing with student loan debt and responsibilities, and it's standing in the way of them being able to start a family or buy a home, and it is real, and we need to deal with it."
—Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) December 18, 2021
Harris cited actions Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has already taken to address the student debt crisis, like canceling about $12 billion in student debt for targeted groups of borrowers, and she said he "is working to increase relief for students."
But the vice president failed to address Biden's campaign promise of approving $10,000 in student debt forgiveness for every borrower — a promise that many Americans are still waiting to see fulfilled, and one that earned him a number of votes. Biden wrote on Twitter in March 2020 that we should "forgive a minimum of $10,000/person of federal student loans," but that promise now appears to rest in the hands of Congress.
"If Congress sends him a bill, he's happy to sign it. They haven't sent him a bill on that yet," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a reporter earlier this month in response to a question on where debt cancellation stands.
Psaki's response frustrated many borrowers and advocates. Nina Turner — a former state senator and head of Sen. Bernie Sanders' progressive organization Our Revolution — told Insider in an interview she was "absolutely mortified" by Psaki's "cavalier attitude" toward Biden's unfulfilled campaign promise.
Voters aren't too pleased, either. An independent voter recently appeared on CNN to weigh in on Biden's actions so far, and she gave the president a B-minus rating for not yet delivering on his student-debt promises.
"I would definitely say he has delivered on many promises, but some of them he has not," Amikka Burl, an independent voter, said on CNN. "He promised when he was actually running, on his campaign trail, that he would wipe out $10,000 worth of student-loan debt for every individual that has student loans. That has yet to come to fruition, so I am waiting for that to happen."
If Biden does not act on that promise anytime soon, though, lawmakers want the president to extend the pause on student-loan payments past February 1 to ensure borrowers are not stuck with additional monthly bills they cannot afford. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter the delay of Build Back Better's passage should be ammunition for Biden to take matters into his own hands.
"With BBB delayed, Child Tax Credits will expire and student loans will restart within a matter of weeks," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Working families could lose thousands of $/mo just as prices are rising. That alone is reason for @POTUS to act on student loans ASAP - w/ either moratorium or cancellation."