- Sen. Marco Rubio said he was only able to pay off $100,000 in student debt because he wrote a book.
- Rubio received an $800,000 advance to write his memoir, financial disclosures showed.
- Rubio said Biden’s student-loan forgiveness is “unfair,” “illegal,” and does not reform the system.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, said on Saturday that he is aware of the problems with student debts in the US since, before to being elected to Congress, he owed $100,000 in school debt, which he was able to pay off thanks to the sales of his book.
The Florida senator expressed his disapproval of President Joe Biden’s proposal to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt for federal borrowers earning less than $125,000 annually during an appearance on Fox News’ “One Nation with Brian Kilmeade” program.
Rubio said that although he too was saddled with thousands of dollars in school debt for years, he concurs that reforms to student loans are necessary.
Rubio said, “I owed over $100,000 in student loans.” “I had over $100,000 in outstanding college debts on the day I was elected to the Senate, but I was able to pay them off because I was a published author. And I was able to pay it with that money; otherwise, I would still be paying it.”
Rubio received his law degree from the University of Miami Law School in 1996 after graduating from the University of Florida in 1993. Prior to winning a Senate seat in 2010, he held a number of municipal and state positions, including Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
“An American Son: A Memoir,” his book, was released in 2013. According to financial filings, Rubio was given a $800,000 book advance by Penguin Group, the publisher, in 2012, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. Rubio also revealed in the filings that he had stopped disclosing his $100,000 student loan debt.
As is typical for US politicians, Rubio’s income from book sales and royalties has contributed considerably to his $174,000 yearly pay as a US senator since he took office in 2011.
“American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity for Everyone,” his second book, was released in 2015. Rubio’s book advance for the book is unknown, although the Associated Press said in 2016 that 2012 was his most profitable year, implying that it was less than for his first book.
While he acknowledges that the student loan system is “broken” and “needs to be fixed,” Rubio told Fox News that Biden’s proposal does not call for long-term change.
“To do this, I’ve been promoting concepts that are nonpartisan for years. “There are people taking out loans right now that will owe them in the future that won’t be covered by this, oftentimes for a degree that won’t lead to a job,” he said, “but this plan doesn’t reform the system.”
Furthermore, Rubio said that he believed the forgiveness of student loans to be “illegal” and that “the president doesn’t have the authority to do this.” Reiterating his opinion that the debt cancellation was “unfair,” he pointed out that 85% of Americans are debt-free due to having paid off or never taken out college loans.
