Biden at Delaware State: 'Don't Jump,' 'Who in the Hell Do They Think They Are?' and a Loan Plan the Court Struck Down (October 21, 2022)

At Delaware State University to sell his student loan plan, President Joe Biden looked up and noticed the students above him. “And I didn’t even see all of—I didn’t see the bleachers up there. Hey, everybody,” he said [1].

“We love you!” an audience member shouted. “Don’t jump. Don’t jump,” Biden said, to laughter [1].

He then claimed a long history with the school. “By the way, as Tom Carper can tell you, I sort of got my political start at Del State,” Biden said. “That was back in 1871, I think.” [1]

The video above shows Biden’s Oct. 21, 2022, remarks in Dover, Delaware. Quotes are from the official transcript and pool reports published by the American Presidency Project [1][2].

”A Full Professor at the University of Pennsylvania”

Biden told a story about the university’s president, who once worked for him, and made a claim about his own time in academia. “When I left the Vice Presidency after my—after Beau died, I wasn’t going to get involved in politics anymore, so I became a full professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” he said [1].

He said his wife warned him off a university presidency. “If you do that, I’m leaving you,” Biden quoted her as saying, to laughter [1]. For the record on his Penn title, see HYGO News’ page on Albuquerque.

”Who in the Hell Do They Think They Are?”

Biden went after Republicans by name. “Marjorie Taylor Greene: She got over—she and her husband had $180,000 in business loans forgiven from the PPP program,” he said. He said Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida called the plan “reckless” and had “Two million three hundred thousand dollars” forgiven [1].

He mocked a letter from Republican governors who said the relief “only helps the ‘elite few.’” “You all know you’re the ‘elite few’?” Biden asked the students. “I knew you were really special, but I didn’t know you were the ‘elite few.’” [1]

Then he turned to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, as some in the crowd booed. “He said it’s for ‘slackers’—quote, ‘slackers’ who don’t deserve relief. Who in the hell do they think they are? I mean it,” Biden said [1].

“I will never apologize for helping working and middle class Americans as they recover from the pandemic,” he said [1].

”$5.8 Billion in HBCUs”

Biden pointed to his spending on historically Black colleges, which he called “basically a ticket to the middle class.” “We invested $5.8 billion in HBCUs. Some suggested we couldn’t get it done, but we got it done,” he said. He said the money helped Delaware State with “reducing the debt burden for 225 graduating seniors” [1].

He also claimed more deficit cuts to come: “And we’re going to reduce the deficit by another $250 billion over the next decade.” [1]

“On Biden’s Side”

Biden claimed the courts were with him. “But just yesterday a State court and the Supreme Court said, ‘No, we’re on Biden’s side,’” he said [1].

He bragged about sign-ups. “Now, in less than a week, just close to 22 million people have already given us the information to consider this life-changing relief,” Biden said. “Literally, 10,000 so far,” he said of letters from students [1].

”One Trillion Four Hundred Billion”

Biden said the country could afford it because of the deficit. “This morning my administration announced that this year the deficit fell—the Federal deficit fell by one trillion four hundred billion dollars just this year. The largest 1-year drop in all of American history,” he said [1].

Treasury’s records show the deficit fell from $2.78 trillion in fiscal 2021 to $1.38 trillion in fiscal 2022. The deficit then rose again, to $1.70 trillion in fiscal 2023 and $1.83 trillion in fiscal 2024 [3].

By the Numbers

900: people at the event, per the White House [2].
22 million: applications Biden said had come in within a week [1].
$180,000: the PPP forgiveness Biden attributed to Greene and her husband [1].
$1.83 trillion: the fiscal 2024 deficit [3].
6-3: the Supreme Court vote that ended the plan [5].

What Happened Next

The Court killed it. On June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court struck down the plan in Biden v. Nebraska. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for six justices that the HEROES Act did not give the Education Secretary power to cancel $430 billion in loan principal: “It does not.” [5] For that ruling, see HYGO News’ page on the Supreme Court decision.

The next plan was blocked, too. In July 2024, a federal appeals court blocked Biden’s replacement plan, called SAVE. “The Court granted our emergency motion to BLOCK Joe Biden’s entire illegal student loan plan, which would have saddled working Americans with half-a-trillion dollars in Ivy League debt,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote, Fox Business reported [4].

After the speech, the pool reported, Biden left for “his house in Rehoboth Beach” for the weekend [2].