U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz took a thrashing from progressives on Friday after he underhandedly acknowledged that President Joe Biden's move this week to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower is likely to help Democrats in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections.
"If you are that slacker barista who wasted seven years in college studying completely useless things, now has loans, and can't get a job, Joe Biden just gave you 20 grand," Cruz said on his Verdict podcast.
"Maybe you weren't gonna vote in November," he added, "and suddenly you just got 20 grand, and if you can get off the bong for a minute and head down to the voting station, or just send in your mail-in ballot that the Democrats have helpfully sent you, it could drive up turnout, particularly among young people."
Responding to Cruz's remarks, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted "this is what a leading Republican thinks of young 'slacker' Americans who took out loans to go to college."
Educator Chris Williams tweeted: "Apparently myself, a public school teacher who joined the Peace Corps out of college, and currently with over 20k in student loans after graduating in 2009, is a slacker according to Ted Cruz. Good to know."
Status Coup podcaster Jordan Chariton said on Twitter, "I've interviewed many 'slacker baristas' who work much harder and are MUCH smarter than Ted Cruz."
Republicans revealing what they REALLY think about the working class https://t.co/D9uCDATox6
— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) August 26, 2022
Cruz has been a vociferous critic of student debt relief. On Wednesday, he issued a statement condemning Biden's move and dubiously claiming on Twitter that it would "cost every taxpayer an average of $2,100."
It was far from Cruz's first questionable—if not downright false—tweet, which have run the gamut from defending former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election to claiming that the Biden administration was going to fund the distribution of free crack pipes.
