Jim Jordan Says 'Real America' Mad at Student Loan Forgiveness for Elites

Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan said "real America" disagrees with President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, even though millions have been given financial relief through other government programs.

On August 24, Biden announced that $10,000 in student loan debt would be forgiven, while those who attended higher education via Pell Grants would receive $20,000 in forgiveness. Only individuals making less than $125,000 per year qualify for forgiveness, or $250,000 per household.

The president also announced the seventh and final moratorium on loan payments, which will conclude December 31, at which time borrowers will be required to pay toward their debts for the first time since payments were initially suspended at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

"Real America is furious that Joe Biden 'forgave' student loans for a select group of elites and made those who didn't take out loans pay for it," Jordan tweeted Monday.

Outside of Washington, D.C., Ohio residents are the most likely to have student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Biden's fulfillment of a promise made during the 2020 presidential campaign is relatively small compared to the public pleas for higher forgiveness amounts by prominent Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

Estimates show that the total national student debt is approximately $1.7 trillion, and Biden's plan would cost around $440 billion.

Biden's announcement has attracted a variety of criticism, with those against it calling it "unjust" and a redistribution of wealth "from the poor to the rich."

Others said that the debt relief is not "an avenue out of poverty" but simply a tax on those who for whatever reason decided against attending college at all.

The Biden White House has not been shy to mention how 10.2 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, with the intention to aid mostly small-business owners during the pandemic, have been fully or partially written off as of July 4 of this year.

That has included PPP loans received by many of Jordan's colleagues in the House of Representatives, including Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who had $183,504 forgiven; Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida, who had $482,321 forgiven; and Mike Kelly of Pennsylavnia, who had $987,237 forgiven.

Other big names who had PPP loans forgiven include Kanye West, Tom Brady, Jared Kushner, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi.

One study reported that approximately only one-quarter of PPP money actually supported jobs that would have disappeared during the pandemic.

Newsweek reached out to Jordan for comment.