Biden promotes ‘life-changing’ student loan relief

MADISON, Wis. — President Joe Biden said Monday college graduates would see “life-changing” relief from his new plan to ease debt burdens for more than 30 million borrowers, the latest attempt by the Democratic president to make good on a campaign promise that could buoy his standing with young voters.

Biden detailed the initiative, which has been in the works for months, during a trip to Wisconsin, one of a handful of battleground states that could decide the outcome of Biden’s likely rematch with former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Biden said he wanted to “give everybody a fair shot” and the “freedom to chase their dreams” as he lamented the rising cost of higher education.

“Even when they work hard and pay their student loans, their debt increases and not diminishes,” he said. “Too many people feel the strain and stress, wondering if they can get married, have their first child, start a family, because even if they get by, they still have this crushing, crushing debt.”

Monday’s announcement was an opportunity to energize young voters whose support Biden will need to defeat Trump in November.

Biden’s trip comes less than a week after primary voting in Wisconsin that highlighted political weaknesses for Biden as he prepares for the general election. More than 48,000 Democratic voters chose “uninstructed” instead of Biden, more than double his narrow margin of victory in the state in 2020.

Trump also saw a significant number of defections during the state’s primary, with nearly 119,000 Republicans voting for a different candidate than their party’s presumptive nominee.

But Biden’s results, which echoed similar protest votes in states like Michigan and Minnesota, have rattled Democrats who are eager to solidify the coalition that catapulted him into the White House in the first place.