Kevin O’Leary Claims Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Efforts Are a ‘Horrific Idea’
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Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
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Daria Uhlig
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Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary is not a fan of the administration’s student loan cancelation program, calling it “unfair” and a “horrific idea.” Speaking on Fox on Thursday, Dec. 7, O’Leary said that the responsibility should fall on borrowers to pay back their debt.
“Why would one cohort of graduates in this particular time be forgiven their loan when everybody else that came before them or after them potentially has to pay back their debt?” he said, according to Fox Business. “What about if you were in the military and you served your country, and then you went and borrowed money, $60, $80,000, and you have to pay it back and these people don’t? I mean, that’s just wrong.”
O’Leary’s remarks come one day after the administration announced it had approved $4.8 billion in debt relief for 80,300 Americans.
This brings the total approved debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris Administration to nearly $132 billion for more than 3.6 million Americans, according to a Department of Education statement, as GOBankingRates previously reported. The Department of Education said that this was possible through fixes it has made to income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, as well as granting automatic relief for borrowers with total and permanent disabilities, according to a statement.
“Forgiving debt is such a horrific idea,” O’Leary told Fox.
Student loan payments resumed in October after a three-year hiatus, as the Supreme Court — in a 6-3 decision — struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, which would have canceled up to $20,000 in debt for millions of borrowers.
O’Leary added that “many voters won’t like it,” and that “it’ll become an issue as the 2024 presidential election nears.”
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