Pro-Palestinian protesters greeted Biden outside the Drake Hotel on the Gold Coast, where the president had a campaign meeting before making remarks at the fundraiser.
President Joe Biden came to Chicago on Monday to ramp up fundraising for his re-election campaign after touting a new student loan relief plan that he said would be “life-changing” for more than 30 million borrowers.
Biden detailed the plan during a trip to Wisconsin, one of a handful of battleground states that could play a pivotal role in Biden’s likely November rematch with 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.”
The plan is smaller and more targeted than Biden’s original plan, which would have canceled up to $20,000 in loans for more than 40 million borrowers. The new proposal would erase a portion or all federal student loans for more than 30 million Americans, the White House said. The Education Department plans to issue a formal proposal in the coming months and expects to begin implementing aspects of the plan as early as this fall.
The plan’s widest-reaching benefit would cancel up to $20,000 in interest for borrowers who have seen their balances grow beyond their original amount due to what Biden described as “runaway” interest.
