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US President Joe Biden warned of the dangers of an oligarchy gaining power as he delivered his farewell address, ending a decade-long career in politics.
“Today, an oligarchy of extreme wealth, power and influence is taking over America that truly threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom,” he said Wednesday.
Biden, 82, took aim at an ultra-wealthy “tech-industrial complex” that he said could wield unchecked power over Americans.
He also used the last White House televised speech to issue warnings about climate change and social media misinformation.
Speaking from the Oval Office, where his family gathered to watch, he highlighted the record of his one-term administration, citing job creation, infrastructure spending, health care, getting the country out of the pandemic and making America a safer country.
However, he added, “it will take time to feel the full impact of everything we’ve done together, but the seeds are planted, and they will grow and flourish for decades to come.”
Biden wished Donald Trump’s incoming administration success, but then issued some stark warnings, saying the president “has so much at stake right now.”
On climate change, he said that “powerful forces want to use their influence to undo the steps we have taken to address the climate crisis, to serve the interests of power and profit.”
Regarding disinformation, Biden warned that “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, allowing the abuse of power.”
It also pointed the finger at social media companies like Meta, which it recently announced will be removing independent verifiers. “Social media is refusing to check the facts. The truth is being drowned out by lies told for power and profit,” said Biden.
And the attack on an ultra-rich “tech-industrial complex” was a veiled reference to Silicon Valley executives such as Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is close to Trump and a major financial supporter of his campaign.
His language echoed that of President Dwight Eisenhower, who warned of a “military-industrial complex” in his 1961 farewell address.
Biden appeared to have Musk in mind when he warned of a “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of the ultra-rich.”
The term oligarchy refers to a government run by a few people, often for their own benefit.
The President said that “unchecked their abuse of power can have dangerous consequences.”
Other tech leaders such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have also made efforts to improve relations with Trump before returning to the White House.
Closing his departure speech, a long-standing presidential tradition, Biden called on Americans to “take care” of their country: “Everybody be a keeper of the fire.”
His farewell address arrived the same day announced a cease-fire agreement Between Israel and Hamas, which he mentioned in his opening speech.
Biden said the negotiations were among the toughest of his career, and he took credit for helping push through the deal.
The agreement will put the ceasefire into effect on January 19, one day before Trump takes office. The mature president has also taken credit for the deal, saying it was only possible because he won the election in November.
