Washington (AP) — President Joe Biden used his farewell address to the nation Wednesday to issue stark warnings about a “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy establishing itself in the country, as well as a “tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on Americans’ rights and the future of democracy.
Speaking from the Oval Office as he prepares to hand over power to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, Biden took advantage of what is likely to be his final opportunity to address the nation before leaving the White House to highlight the concentration of power and wealth in the United States among a small number of people.
“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,” said Vice President Biden, highlighting “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”
Invoking President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 warnings about the rise of a military-industrial complex, Biden added, “I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers to our country as well.”
Biden used his 15-minute speech to offer a model for a peaceful transition of power and, without mentioning Trump by name, to express concerns about his successor.
It was a striking admonition from Biden, who is leaving the national stage after more than 50 years in public service, as he struggles to define his legacy and steel the country against Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
This time, the president, who has repeatedly described Trump as a threat to the nation’s governance system, went a step further, warning Americans to protect their liberties and institutions during a turbulent period of rapid technological and economic change.
Biden warned about oligarchy as some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and titans of the technology industry rallied behind Trump in recent months, particularly after his November victory.
Billionaire Elon Musk spent more than $100 million to help Trump win the election, and executives such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have donated to Trump’s inaugural committee and travelled to Trump’s private club in Florida for meetings with the president-elect as they seek to ingratiate themselves with his administration and shape its policies.
Biden’s speech in the Oval Office is the latest in a string of remarks on domestic policy and foreign relations aimed at cementing his legacy and changing Americans’ negative perceptions of his presidency.
Earlier in the day, he announced a long-awaited cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which could end more than a year of violence in the Middle East.
“It’ll take time to feel the full impact of what we’ve done together but the seeds are planted and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come,” Biden told the crowd. It was a tacit acknowledgement that many Americans have yet to see the results of his trillions of dollars spent on domestic initiatives.
At the same time that Biden was criticising social media companies for abandoning fact-checking on their platforms, Trump’s new communications director and press secretary were sharing posts on X that falsely claimed the president had given a prerecorded speech.
Biden has attributed his low public standing to misinformation on social media and the difficulties he has faced in reaching voters in today’s disaggregated media ecosystem.
Biden proposed his own set of solutions to the problems he identified: changing the tax code to ensure billionaires “pay their fair share,” eliminating the flow of hidden sources of money into political campaigns, establishing 18-year term limits for Supreme Court members, and prohibiting members of Congress from trading stocks.
His policy prescriptions come as Biden’s political capital dwindles as he prepares to leave the national stage, and he has done little to advance those causes during his four years in the White House.
According to Federal Reserve data, the wealthiest 0.1% of the country owns more than five times as much as the bottom 50% combined.
Biden isn’t leaving the White House as he had hoped. He attempted to run for reelection, dismissing voters’ concerns that he would be 86 years old by the end of his second term.
After stumbling in a debate with Trump, Biden dropped out of the race under pressure from his own party, and Vice President Kamala Harris was named the Democratic nominee.
The speech Wednesday night marked the end of Biden’s five-decade political career, not just as president. He was elected to represent his home state of Delaware in 1972, becoming the country’s youngest senator at the age of 30.
Biden ran for president in 1988 and 2008 before becoming Barack Obama’s vice president. After serving two terms, Biden was thought to be out of politics.
However, he returned to centre stage as the unlikely Democratic nominee in 2020, successfully ousting Trump from the White House.
As he emphasised his own commitment to ensuring a peaceful transition of power, including briefings with Trump’s team and coordinating with the incoming administration on Middle East negotiations, Biden also advocated for a constitutional amendment that would end sitting presidents’ immunity.
That came in response to a Supreme Court decision last year that granted Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution for his role in attempting to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden.
Biden spoke from the Resolute Desk, with photos of his family visible behind him in the Oval Office. First Lady Jill Biden, his son Hunter, some of his grandchildren, Harris, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, all sat and watched.
As Biden spoke about Harris, saying she had become like family, the first lady reached out and grabbed her hand.
