Former President Joe Biden openly admitted to defying the Supreme Court multiple times during his administration — and the media barely blinked. But when President Donald Trump challenges a lower court ruling by an activist judge, the media frames it as a “constitutional crisis.” The glaring double standard isn’t accidental; it’s part of a calculated effort by the left-wing corporate media to peddle the phony narrative that Trump is an authoritarian threat.
Biden didn’t just defy the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling on student debt — he bragged about it.
“I promised to ease student debt for millions of folks. The Supreme Court blocked me, but it didn’t stop me,” Biden posted on X.
“The Supreme Court tried to block me from relieving student debt. But they didn’t stop me.” Biden doubled down months later. “I’m going to keep going.”
By Biden’s own admission, he was defying the Supreme Court. But the propaganda press’ response was nothing more than a shrug.
Axios’ Sareen Habeshian downplayed the Supreme Court’s ruling as a mere “setback,” noting that Biden was able to provide “relief” by “circumventing the need for Congressional or court approval.”
CNN’s Katie Lobosco reported how Biden “found ways” to continue canceling “student loan debt despite Supreme Court ruling.”
“Although the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s signature student loan forgiveness program in late June [2023], his administration has found ways to cancel more than $48 billion in debt since then,” Lobosco wrote.
Lobosco noted that Biden’s actions simply drew “some skepticism about whether” it was “legal” to announce he was canceling more debt “just two weeks after the Supreme Court knocked down Biden’s signature loan forgiveness program.”
The New York Times’ Ron Lieber wrote on July 10, 2023: “How Biden Might Try to Cancel Student Debt Next,” noting Biden may use the Higher Education Act of 1965.
“On June 30, in the wake of losing a Supreme Court lawsuit over his $400 billion plan to cancel student loan debt, President Biden said he was going to try again. So what exactly is he proposing to do?” Lieber wrote.
The Times’ Zach Montague wrote in October of 2024 that Biden’s “student debt agenda has been repeatedly handicapped by Republican legal challenges.” The Biden administration, he wrote, “has repeatedly been thwarted in court as federal judges and the Supreme Court have found that the Education Department stretched its legal authority to improperly wipe out federal student loan balances using several other avenues.”
Zolan Kanno-Youngs wrote for The New York Times in February of 2024: “After the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s plan to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt, borrowers wondered how he would make good on his promise to tackle debt burdening millions of Americans.”
“The answer: He would do it bit by bit,” Kanno-Youngs wrote, later noting how Biden “work[ed] around the Supreme Court decision.”
The Washington Post published the headline: “Supreme Court’s halt on student loan relief isn’t end of Biden’s effort,” and noted that Biden nonetheless planned to “move ahead” with a “new program.”
But the approach the media took when defending Biden is a far cry from their coverage of Trump challenging an order from District Judge James Boasberg.
Boasberg issued a 14-day restraining order to stop the Trump administration from using the 1789 Alien Enemies Act to deport a group of illegal aliens and alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. A flight carrying hundreds of violent illegal aliens arrived in El Salvador on Sunday.
White House Press Sec. Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday that the order was not applicable because the flights had already left and were in international waters.
“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order,” Leavitt said. “The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict.”
“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrying foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” she added
Still, the propaganda press has collectively perpetuated the narrative that there is a “constitutional crisis” brewing.
Axios’ Marc Caputo wrote Sunday under the headline, “Exclusive: How the White House ignored a judge’s order to turn back deportation flights.”
“The administration’s decision to defy a federal judge’s order is exceedingly rare and highly controversial,” Caputo wrote.
The New York Times’ Matthathias Schwartz said Trump “moved one large step closer to a constitutional showdown with the judicial branch of government.”
CNN’s Stephen Collinson wrote that if the White House “violated a judge’s order” it could bring the country closer to a “constitutional crisis.”
“[I]f the administration defied the judge, it would potentially create the most serious legal quagmire of the administration solar and would fuel fears that an authoritarian presidency could openly defy the rule of law,” Collinson wrote.
The hypocrisy is so blatant that The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake tried to justify it, claiming Biden — despite his own admission — didn’t really defy the Supreme Court.
“Biden did not defy the Supreme Court,” Blake wrote, he simply “pitched himself as circumventing” it. Therefore, Blake added, comparisons between Trump and Biden in this instance are not “valid.”
And he’s right — they’re not valid.
Biden was told by the high court his student loan forgiveness efforts were illegal. The Trump administration is challenging an order from a single, low-level judge.
The media’s framing of Trump’s legal challenges as a “constitutional crisis” is not just an overreaction — it’s a deliberate tactic to reinforce the left-wing narrative that Trump is an authoritarian, as hinted at by Collinson. For years, the propaganda press has fear mongered the public into believing Trump is an authoritarian who must be stopped, even after he won the election in a majority vote landslide this past November. By portraying Trump as someone who defies the rule of law, the press helps fuel the idea that he threatens “democracy” all while they gave Biden a free pass for openly flouting the Supreme Court.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
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