Biden visits Chicago for fundraiser after pitching student loan relief in Wisconsin

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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. That part of the plan would forgive at least some unpaid interest for an estimated 25 million borrowers, with 23 million getting all their interest erased, according to the White House.

Evan Vucci/AP

An additional 2 million borrowers would automatically have their loans canceled because they’re eligible but have not applied for other forgiveness programs, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Borrowers who have been repaying their undergraduate student loans for at least 20 years would be eligible to have any remaining debt canceled, along with those repaying graduate school loans for 25 years or more.

The plan would forgive debt for those who were in college programs deemed to have “low financial value.” It’s meant to help those who were in programs that ended up becoming ineligible to receive federal student aid or programs found to have cheated students.

After speaking in Madison, Biden flew to Chicago for a major fundraising event downtown. Rep. Danny Davis, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle were on hand to greet the president Monday afternoon as he stepped from Marine One to his limousine at a Soldier Field parking lot.

The president’s motorcade then took him to the Drake Hotel, where he had a campaign meeting before making remarks at the fundraiser held at a nearby residence owned by Michael Sacks, who hosted the event with his wife, Cari, and Laura Ricketts and her wife, Brooke, according to a copy of the invitation.

Among those in attendance were Bill Daley and Illinois’ first lady, M.K. Pritzker. Sacks, chairman and chief executive of GCM Grosvenor, is a major Democratic donor and fundraiser and the leader of the Democratic National Convention’s Chicago Host Committee. He also is a donor to Chicago Public Media and its affiliate, the Chicago Sun-Times.

Biden said “it’s always special to be back in Chicago,” adding he was looking forward to the Democratic National Convention which the city is set to host Aug. 19-22.

“Trust me when I say your governor and the entire Illinois delegation, including my buddy Dick Durbin, are determined to make it happen,” Biden said.

Biden then outlined the potential consequences of another Trump presidency, saying that “no one trusts Donald Trump” and adding that Trump poses a threat to American democracy.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

“This is an election that I feel more obliged to win and even want to win because the alternative is not very good,” Biden said.

As Biden spoke, more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the hotel to protest the president’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Protesters gathered on the corner of Pearson Street and Michigan Avenue and marched toward the hotel, prompting police to shut down all traffic on Michigan Avenue.

They banged drums and held up banners and signs demanding Biden call a cease-fire to the Israel-Hamas war.

“Biden could have ended these war crimes by Israel in the first week but instead continues to support Israel politically, diplomatically and, of course, with money and arms,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. “We are here to say to Biden ‘no more funding of Israel, no more weapons to Israel.’”

Contributing: Lynn Sweet, AP

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times