This article was written by Nina Zdinjak and originally published on Benzinga.
ZINGER KEY POINTS
- “If you are that slacker barista,” Cruz said, “Joe Biden just gave you 20 grand.”
- “This is what a leading Republican thinks of young ‘slacker’ Americans,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said.
Senator Ted Cruz has a message for the working class.
“If you are that slacker barista who wasted seven years in college studying completely useless things, now has loans, and can’t get a job, Joe Biden just gave you 20 grand,” the Texas Republican said in the latest episode of his podcast.
Cruz is referring to President Joe Biden’s recent move to cancel a chunk of student loan debt per borrower. The move may help Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections.
In the episode, called “Reverse Robin Hood,” Cruz also insinuates that the majority of the working class are cannabis users.
“Maybe you weren’t gonna vote in November,” he added. “And suddenly you just got 20 grand, and if you can get off the bong for a minute and head down to the voting station, or just send in your mail-in ballot that the Democrats have helpfully sent you, it could drive up turnout, particularly among young people.”
The 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout of the 21st century, with 66.8% of citizens 18 years and older voting in the election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s when unprecedented cannabis legalization took place and Biden, a Democrat, won the presidential election.
Aftermath
Cruz’s words were welcomed with a lot of criticism starting with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ following tweet:
Others also joined to slam Cruz, reported Common Dreams.
For example, a public school teacher Chris Williams tweeted: “Apparently myself, a public school teacher who joined the Peace Corps out of college, and currently with over 20k in student loans after graduating in 2009, is a slacker according to Ted Cruz. Good to know.”
This was followed by a Status Coup podcaster Jordan Chariton’s tweet: I’ve interviewed many ‘slacker baristas’ who work much harder and are MUCH smarter than Ted Cruz.”
Cruz against student debt, but what about cannabis
After Biden revealed his decision to forgive student loans, Cruz harshly criticized it, stating that the news came as a “gut punch to every hard-working single mother who worked double shifts in order to pay for her own education, every parent who borrowed against their home to send their kid to college, Americans who sacrificed to make responsible financial decisions, and our nation’s veterans and service members who risked their lives to earn the G.I. Bill.”
According to Cruz, every taxpayer in America will pay for these debts, and what’s more the move will make inflation even worse than it is now.
“Let’s be clear – there is no way to ‘cancel’ student debt. This will cost every taxpayer an average of $2,100.Someone will pay the price for this policy, and the price is likely to be felt by every American in the form of even higher inflation. This administration is exceeding its legal authority and illegally burdening hard-working Americans with debts they didn’t take on themselves,” Cruz stated.
Earlier this year, some Republican senators pledged to stop Biden from canceling student loan debt, citing inflation fears. However, economists and the Roosevelt Institute maintain that canceling student debt would not be inflationary.
Cruz is also an opponent of federal cannabis legalization. While he many times said that it should be left up to states to decide if they want to legalize the plant, he also made sure it is understood that is not something he would personally support.
Furthermore, when asked if he ever consumed marijuana and if not, then why not, Cruz replied: “I don’t because it’s illegal and because it’s harmful to you. It’s not healthy.”
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