Republicans are acting uncharacteristically flat-footed in response to President Joe Biden's announcement that he'll be forgiving up to $20,000 in student loan debt to people who make under $125,000 a year. Sure, Fox News pundits are all crying about it, but they can't quite seem to get their story straight on why viewers are supposed to be outraged.
Sean Hannity complained, "The people that likely will benefit the most are middle class" and whined that the "young people that work on my TV show" will get relief. He tried to make it sound bad, but he inadvertently pointed out that the program benefits his audience. Jeanine Pirro called it "disgusting" and suggested that the only legitimate way to fund a college education is to have your family pay for it all. Not an appealing argument to an audience who would rather be spending their retirement funds on cruises instead of grandkids' escalating tuitions. Tucker Carlson got a little closer to stroking the Republican voter erogenous zones with a word salad about "postcolonial liberation studies from Wesleyan" and "reparations" and claiming kids today are "Xanax-addicted robots with no job prospects." But honestly, even his heart doesn't seem in it. You get the feeling he can't wait to get back to screeching about how trans kids and the Obamas are conspiring to keep your daughter from giving you white grandbabies.
