Man Who Saved for Daughter’s Education Admonishes Warren Over Loan-Forgiveness Plan: ‘Those of Us Who Did the Right Thing Get Screwed?’

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) was confronted on the campaign trail earlier this week by a man who was angry about her plan to forgive all U.S. student debt because he feels it punishes people like himself who had saved up to pay for their child’s education so as not to burden them with loans.

“My daughter is in school, I saved all my money just to pay student loans. Can I have my money back?” the man asked Warren at a campaign event.

“Of course not,” Warren responded.

“So you’re going to pay the people who didn’t save [their] money, and those of us who did the right thing get screwed?” the man said.

Warren and fellow progressive Senator Bernie Sanders (D., Va.) have both pledged to forgive broad swaths of college student debt. Warren’s plan proposes to forgive up to $50,000 in debt for those making less than $100,000 a year, affecting around 42 million people, while Sanders would cancel all student debt in the country, affecting 45 million people.

“Student loan debt…is crushing an entire generation and holding back our economy,” Warren wrote on Twitter on January 17. “That’s why I will act on day one of my presidency to start canceling student debt and getting relief to families.”

Warren’s campaign has been flagging in recent weeks, with some polls showing Sanders and Joe Biden far ahead of her in the race. A January 22 CNN poll showed Sanders winning 27 percent of the Democratic primary vote nationally, while Biden grabbed 24 percent and Warren received only 14 percent.

The New York Times editorial board on Sunday split its candidate endorsement between Warren and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.