Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre falsely claimed that the administration’s $300-900 billion student loan bailout will provide relief for “relief to 90% of Americans that are making less than $75,000 a year.”
“It’s a very targeted plan that’s going to give relief to 90% of Americans that are making less than $75,000 a year,” the most diverse and intersectional press secretary in American history claimed.
It’s unclear where Jean-Pierre sourced the claim that 90% of the population making less than $75,000 per year would be positively affected by student loan bailouts, in a country with some 330 million people and a median income of roughly $69,000 per year where less than half of the population has a college degree.
Valiant News rates Jean-Pierre’s claim as false.
Karine Jean-Pierre absurdly claims Biden's student loan debt bailout "gives relief to 90% of Americans that are making less than $75,000/year."
That just isn't true. pic.twitter.com/KQw5nQQKWd
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 26, 2022
In an exchange with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy this week, Jean-Pierre brought up the 90 percent number in the context of the students the handout would actually affect, and not the entire US population as she insinuated on Friday.
Jean-Pierre claimed, “If you look at what this president has done, if you look at the coming end of the fiscal year, $1.7 trillion that we brought down the deficit. That matters, and if you look at the Inflation Reduction Act, it’s going to add another $300 billion going to bring down the deficit again.”
Doocy: "And you might spend $300 billion to $900 billion extra. So, you can do that and not increase the deficit?"
KJP: "Here's the thing. What we are trying to do here — we are doing this responsibly. You heard directly from the President[.]" pic.twitter.com/J7c4IAQKDy
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 24, 2022
Doocy: "But when you forgive debt, you're not just disappearing debt, so who is paying for it?
KJP: "And then I will give you the second part. We have lifted the pause…at the end of this year, which is going to matter…which is going to offset a lot of what we are doing[.]" pic.twitter.com/tT8T4R8g2a
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 24, 2022
Doocy: "But someone is paying for it. Who?"
KJP: "I just–I just laid out. I just laid –"
Doocy: "Who?"
KJP: "–out for you. No, Peter, I just laid out for you how we're seeing this process and why this matters."
Doocy: "Wealthy Americans? Big corporations? Who's paying?" pic.twitter.com/aYsEeYrt2Q
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 24, 2022
She went on, “We are doing this responsibly. You heard directly from the president this is something that is going to be important for middle-class Americans. When you think about 90 percent of the folks who are going to actually benefit from this are making $75,000 or less, and you think about what Republicans did just a couple of years ago, they signed off on a $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy and did not provide any way to pay for that.”
