On Wednesday, United States President Joe Biden gave perhaps the last of his farewell addresses to his nation, leaving a thought-provoking warning about an “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy taking root in the country.
Speaking from the Oval Office as he prepares to hand over power on Monday to President-elect Donald Trump, Biden spotlighted the accumulation of power and wealth in the U.S. among just a few.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” Biden said, drawing attention to what he sees as “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people. Dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”
He also warned about the dangers of a “tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on Americans’ rights and threatening the future of democracy.
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power,” Biden warned.
“The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies, told for power and profit.
“We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families, and our very democracy from the abuse of power,” he added.
Trump’s Billionaire Friends
Biden may be referencing the coalescing of fellow billionaires around businessman Donald Trump, some of whom funded his campaign and appear to be part of shaping his new administration.
Billionaire Elon Musk spent more than $100 million helping Trump get elected, and executives including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have donated to Trump’s inaugural committee and made pilgrimages to the president-elect’s private club and estate in Florida for an audience with him.
Musk and Zuckerberg are thought to be leveraging their ties to Trump to benefit their businesses.
Biden, 82, will hand over to Trump on Monday after the Republican won a resounding victory in last November’s elections.
Biden isn’t leaving the White House in the way that he hoped. He initially tried to run for reelection, brushing aside voters’ concerns that he would be 86 years old at the end of a second term. After stumbling in a debate with Trump, Biden dropped out of the race under pressure from his party, and Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee.
The speech Wednesday night capped Biden’s presidency and his five decades in politics. He was once the country’s youngest senator at 30 years old after being elected to represent his home state of Delaware in 1972.
Biden pursued the presidency in 1988 and 2008 before becoming Barack Obama’s vice president. After serving two terms, he was considered to be retired from politics. However, he returned to centre stage as the Democratic nominee in 2020, defeating incumbent Donald Trump.
Bidding Farewell
As his government winds down and he peacefully transitions power to Trump’s incoming administration, Biden also called for a constitutional amendment to end immunity for sitting presidents. That came in response to a Supreme Court ruling last year that granted Trump sweeping protections from criminal liability over his role in trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden.
Biden spoke from the Resolute Desk, and photos of his family were visible behind him in the Oval Office. First Lady Jill Biden, his son Hunter, some of his grandchildren, Harris, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, sat watching.
As Biden spoke about Harris, saying she’d become like family, the first lady grabbed her hand.
“It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years,’’ Biden wrote in a heartfelt message published before his official farewell address.
The White House sent out a long list of milestones achieved by Biden as president, including a historic recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic, economic growth, and lowering costs during his time in office.
Who knows, Biden may have remained president. Still, his fellow Democrats pressured him out of the race for a second term after long-simmering concerns grew about his age and mental fitness following a disastrous debate performance with Trump.
He eventually stepped aside just months before the election, allowing Democrats to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as their candidate.
In spite of hopes that she might be able to turn things around, Trump comfortably beat Harris in the vote on Nov. 5, handing over to Trump not just the presidency but also Senate and Congressional leadership.
Not to mention a conservative-saturated Supreme Court.
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