2022 Student Loan Forgiveness / Pell Grants

About

2022 Student Loan Forgiveness and Federal Pell Grants refers to a decision made by the U.S. government and the Biden administration in August 2022 to forgive millions of Americans' college debt worth billions of dollars in taxpayer money. The decision was supported by more than half of Americans, however, it sparked controversy between conservative and liberal parties who disagreed with the decision. Memes were sparked en masse following the official White House Twitter account quote retweeting conservative leaders who disagreed with the loan forgiveness by providing their exact PPP loans in a continuous thread. This started with Marjorie Taylor Greene and went on to include others like Matt Gaetz. Additionally, a meme posted by Donald Trump Jr. on Instagram that showed a dog, half-naked man and a JIF peanut butter jar inspired many humorous reactions.

History

During Joe Biden's presidential campaign in 2020, he pledged to cancel at least $10,000 of student debt per borrower.^[1] As his presidency continued into 2022, Biden hadn't officially announced a plan to address his administration's promise.

This changed on August 24th, 2022, when President Biden announced on Twitter^[2] that he was keeping to his administration's promise of giving "working and middle-class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023." The announcement tweet attached an infographic that gave more details about the plan. In one day, the tweet received roughly 158,300 likes (shown below).

Soon after on August 24th, Biden spoke at a White House press conference about the plan (shown below). Then, the White House released an official statement and fact sheet on their government website.^[3] Overall, the three-part plan referenced the financial strains associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and offered "targeted debt relief," specifically targeting at-risk borrowers like Pell Grant^[4] recipients who would receive up to $20,000 in debt cancelation. On the other hand, non-Pell Grant borrowers would receive up to $10,000 in debt cancelation.^[3] However, all borrowers were eligible for relief if their individual income was less than $125,000.^[3] The initial plan also extended the payment pause through December 31st, 2022.^[3]

Overall, roughly 40 million Americans have student loan debt in 2022. Also, the U.S. student loan debt total grew to over $1.7 trillion in 2022.^[1] At least 12 million borrowers would see their debt to the federal government disappear as a result of Biden's plan. It would also clear at least $321 billion in federal student loans, according to the Federal Reserve.^[5] However, the Reserve's estimates were from April 2022 and didn't include the $20,000 cancelation for Pell Grant recipients, so those estimates could be higher in August 2022.^[1]

Online Reactions

After the news broke on August 24th, 2022, multiple reactions surfaced online. Some individuals on social media emphasized that the student loan forgiveness plan was unwise, claiming the individuals who went to college knew the financial consequences that they might face and should pay for them. For instance, on August 24th, Twitter^[6] user and conservative author/columnist Tim Young tweeted, "Student loan forgiveness is a middle finger to the people who busted their ass to work hard to do the right thing," earning roughly 28,300 likes in one day (shown below, left).

Others on social media supported the White House's plan, mostly referencing the rapidly increasing price of college in the U.S., the mass majority of low-income people that the plan would help in the country and comparing the student loan debt forgiveness to the billions of dollars already used to bail out large corporations and companies with PPP loans.^[1] For example, on August 24th, Twitter^[7] user and actress Dani Fernandez tweeted a rebuttal to the claim that borrowers were "lazy" by comparing them to rich people who are able to be lazy due to their wealth. In one day, the tweet received roughly 30,200 likes (shown below, right).

Also on August 24th, 2022, more humorous and memetic reactions surfaced on social media. For instance, on August 24th, Twitter^[8] user PleaseBeGneiss joked about quitting his job and taking out a loan to buy "37 new pronouns," earning roughly 56,000 likes in one day (shown below, left).

Also on August 24th, 2022, Twitter^[9] user and Indiana House Rep. Jim Banks tweeted, "Student loan forgiveness undermines one of our military’s greatest recruitment tools at a time of dangerously low enlistments," earning roughly 24,600 likes in one day. Many Twitter users found his tweet unnerving and strange in that it blatantly admitted to targeting low-income and financially at-risk people for the U.S. military. For example, on August 24th, Twitter^[10] user leastactionhero quote retweeted and satirically used Banks' text for the caption of a Squid Game screencap, earning roughly 2,400 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Reactions

Donald Trump Jr.'s "Dog And Peanut Butter" Meme

On August 24th, 2022, Donald Trump Jr. posted a meme to Instagram^[11] about Biden's student loan forgiveness plan that object labeled a jar of JIF peanut butter, a half-naked man and a dog with text related to Millennial voters and the Biden/Harris White House. Trump Jr.'s post received roughly 329,100 likes in one day (shown below). The meme was originally made by the private Instagram^[12] page grandoldmemes, where it received roughly 15,000 likes in the same amount of time.

Later on August 24th, Twitter^[13] user LolOverruled tweeted a screenshot of Trump Jr.'s post, captioning it, "This is real btw," and earned roughly 136,600 likes in one day (shown below, left). The tweet inspired lots of humorous backlash on Trump Jr.'s behalf. For instance, on August 24th, Twitter^[14] user TomOsinski22 tweeted a recaptioned version of the meme that replaced the text to be about Trump Jr. fighting for his dad's attention. The meme received roughly 7,200 likes in one day (shown below, right).

The White House's "This You?" Twitter Thread

The White House's "This You?" Twitter Thread refers to the official Twitter account of the White House quote retweeting and calling out conservative politicians and leaders who publically criticized the student loan forgiveness by exposing their PPP loans, often expensive and large. The thread started with Marjorie Taylor Greene and went on to include others like Matt Gaetz. It inspired controversy and reactions from the public as well as from mainstream, political players like Ben Shapiro and former U.S. President Donald Trump on his own Truth Social. Additionally, it was discovered that New Jersey native Megan Coyne was behind the White House's Twitter account, so many reactions surfaced regarding her and her history.

Search Interest

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External References