Stan Van Gundy, an outspoken supporter of President Joe Biden, took to Twitter Friday night to criticize Republicans and, in the meantime, compared the president’s student loan forgiveness to a miracle performed by Jesus Christ.
Van Gundy, who most recently coached the New Orleans Pelicans, tweeted a meme that depicted the biblical account of Jesus feeding a crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish. The former coach captioned it “Republican logic.”
“Jesus’s miracle of the loaves and fishes was a slap in the face to all people who brought their own lunch,” the satirical post read.
Republican logic. pic.twitter.com/9DAPWgvMLm
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) August 27, 2022
While some people nodded along in approval of Van Gundy‘s meme, many others pointed out the apparent problem with his comparison. Biden’s student debt erasure of up to $10,000 per borrower will cost nearly $300 billion in 2022 alone, according to a nonpartisan analysis from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and fish, explained in the gospel of Matthew, however, was a miracle of God.
“Where did the loaves and fishes come from, Stan?” Noam Blum replied.
More people were quick to mock the former coach’s understanding of economics and the Bible.
“VG obviously doesn’t understand what a student loan is. And doesn’t understand where his loaves and fishes came from,” one Twitter user remarked.
“Obviously you don’t know the scriptures. Biden’s school loan bailout is entirely different. You don’t steal from the poor to feed the rich,” another person quipped.
As reported by The Daily Wire, the Brookings Institution observed that one-third of student debt is owed by the wealthiest 20% of households, while only 8% is owed by the bottom 20% — likely because graduate degrees are often necessary for the most lucrative professions.
Meanwhile, those with lower incomes who didn’t go to college could be hit with more economic burdens as a result of Biden’s massive student loan forgiveness.
“Every dollar spent on student loan relief is a dollar that could have gone to support those who don’t get the opportunity to go to college,” said Larry Summers, a former adviser to President Barack Obama. “Student loan debt relief is spending that raises demand and increases inflation. It consumes resources that could be better used helping those who did not, for whatever reason, have the chance to attend college. It will also tend to be inflationary by raising tuitions.”
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.