Biden Slammed Over Failing To Cancel Student Loan Debt After Extending Payment Pause

President Joe Biden is facing a wave of backlash after announcing plans to extend the student loan pause until the end of August rather than canceling the debt.

On Wednesday, Biden revealed the pause on federal student loan payments would be extended through August 31.

“That additional time will assist borrowers in achieving greater financial security and support the Department of Education’s efforts to continue improving student loan programs,” Biden said in a statement.

In a video shared to the official POTUS Twitter account, Biden noted that the extension was necessary for Americans who were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused. This continued pause will help Americans breathe a little easier as we recover and rebuild from the pandemic,” he said.

However, the announcement was met with backlash as Americans demanded Biden stop extending the pause and end student loan debt instead.

Following his announcement, the word “cancel” became a trending topic on Twitter, with people slamming the president for not canceling student borrowers’ debt even though he showed support for it during his presidential campaign.

“Again, we demand student loan debt be canceled, not deferred to a few months from now. You’re just delaying pain and hardship. Cancel pain and hardship!” one person wrote.

Biden received about 81 million votes, Trump about 74 million votes

45 million student loan holders eligible to vote? Certainly old enough to vote. Pretend half of these are Republicans. @JoeBiden You really want to lose that group of Dems and Independents #CancelStudentDebt
— Nicole (@nms_tweets) April 5, 2022

.@StrikeDebt and many Dems have called for student debt cancellation for over two years now.

Student loans have been paused since 2020 and our economy hasn't collapsed. The cost of living goes up while wages stagnate. Don't just delay payments @POTUS, cancel student debt.
— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) April 5, 2022

Just. Cancel. The. Student. Loan. Debt.

Just cancel it. It's predatory, the loan companies are totally broken, the processes for forgiveness don't work. Many of us have already paid the amount of our original loan many times over.

Just cancel it, Joe. @POTUS @VP @SenateDems
— $10K No Way! 🟥 Don’t Go Small Cancel It All! (@KatieKe70361953) April 5, 2022

Federal student debt payments and interest have been paused for 739 days — and the government has been doing just fine. It's time to cancel it, @POTUS.
— The Debt Collective 🟥 (@StrikeDebt) April 5, 2022

Let me be very clear: canceling $10k in student debt is not enough, canceling $50k in student debt is not enough — cancel it all.
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) April 5, 2022

@POTUS Biden. If y'all got the money to send to the Ukraine like it's not bordered by other European countries. You can cancel these student loans. It's like none of these gov. official know anything about money bc they're already wealthy. #BidenAdministration
— Shady Ness (@ShadyNess1) April 6, 2022

Just cancel the debt already! The economy has gone almost two years without student loan payments. It will be fine. Not to mention the boost that the economy will get when millennials get their credit scores back.#ExecutiveOrder #Biden #CancelStudentDebt https://t.co/wVBaNQvVs2
— Freija's Love (@FreijasLove) April 6, 2022

“Absolutely obscene, if #Biden and #Democrats think extending the pause 4 months and playing lip service to a broken and unfixable #PSLF program will save them in November or in 2024, they have another thing coming. #CancelStudentDebt,” the individual wrote.

Many Democrats have encouraged the president to extend the pause at least until the end of the year, which means payments wouldn’t resume before the November midterm elections.

However, some have encouraged Biden to follow through with comments made during his presidential campaign in which he supported forgiving $10,000 in student loans for borrowers.

When student loan payments resume, the Department of Education revealed delinquent borrowers and those in default will reenter repayment in good standing.