Joe Biden didn’t have the best first year-and-a-half in office. He got a lot done, but he was also hampered by forces outside his control: quisling Democrats; an out-of-control Supreme Court; fellow party leadership that seemed under-motivated. By mid-summer, he’d suddenly found his mojo, and it’s been one bold move after another — all while his predecessor finally, belatedly seemed to (maybe) get his comeuppance.
On Wednesday, he added another success story: He offered (modest) student loan forgiveness to millions and millions of Americans. It could have been better; it wasn’t a total erasure, as some had hoped. But it was enough to aggravate all the right people, namely those on the right, some of whom themselves had even larger PPP debts forgiven. But when pressed on his not-that-controversial decision, Biden wasn’t backing down
REPORTER: Is this unfair to people who paid their student loans or chose not to take out loans?
BIDEN: Is it fair to people who, in fact, do not own multi-billion-dollar businesses if they see one of these guys getting all the tax breaks? Is that fair? What do you think? pic.twitter.com/HA9LzLBMSC
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) August 24, 2022
After addressing the forgiveness plan, which won’t take effect until later this year, Biden was heading for the door when ABC News correspondent Karen Travers asked if it was “unfair to people who paid their student loans or chose not to take out loans.”
But Biden was ready. “Is it fair to people who, in fact, do not own multi-billion-dollar businesses if they see one of these guys getting all the tax breaks? Is that fair?” he asked rhetorically. “What do you think?”
Biden’s quick response had people, some of whom had been underwhelmed by his presidency thus far, calling it straight-up badass.
This. All day. https://t.co/yuxhMKC6pO
— Abby Finkenauer (@Abby4Iowa) August 24, 2022
Dark Brandon doesn't give a fuck anymore. We're gonna win the mid-terms. https://t.co/19k0AIjtbJ
— StrictlyRockers 🇺🇦🌻 (@christoq) August 24, 2022
I am HERE for this. https://t.co/qw1jqqHTeL
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) August 24, 2022
get his ass brandon https://t.co/cM7EM72HPv
— Lolo (@LolOverruled) August 24, 2022
Biden just invented the 3 point dunk.. https://t.co/zmjWQ5qfm5
— Hal Sparks (@HalSparks) August 24, 2022
spicy joe said what he said https://t.co/EAW7kmRR7n
— Florida Chris (@chrislongview) August 24, 2022
One of the best moments of the Biden presidency https://t.co/X3pMNGVnMa
— Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) August 24, 2022
BASED https://t.co/tDTUXWbtTX
— The Humanist Report (@HumanistReport) August 24, 2022
https://twitter.com/SIfill_/status/1562528513621897219
Others used it to slam his critics, including those who have hypocritically accepted loan forgiveness themselves.
Hell yes. Lotta people who took advantage of PPP loans need to keep their mouths shut right now. https://t.co/AgSfQlbTi2
— Leah Greenberg (@Leahgreenb) August 24, 2022
BOOM! The critics of #studentloanforgiveness are the same people who continuously give handouts to the wealthy. Not worried about fairness then, are they? https://t.co/5PNTH0ntnw
— Heather Gardner (@heathergtv) August 24, 2022
The fairness line is lost often trotted out by people who won the class lottery. https://t.co/FvpdESLiOU
— David Moscrop (@David_Moscrop) August 24, 2022
And so Biden had another “Dark Brandon” win, referring to the epithet he’s since managed to spin as a win.