Joe Biden says ‘oligarchy’ emerging in US in final White House address

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US President Joe Biden has warned that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America” that threatens to harm democracy, as he criticized the emerging “tech-industrial complex” for providing a dangerous concentration of wealth and power in the country.

Biden’s comments during a farewell address to Americans from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening are seen as a veiled attack on Donald Trump’s closest allies in corporate America, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, just five days before the transfer of power to the Republican.

Biden said he wanted to warn the country of “the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few wealthy people” and of the danger of “leaving their abuse of power unchecked.”

Citing the late President Dwight Eisenhower’s warning in his 1961 farewell address about the military-industrial complex, he said the interaction between government and technology could be similarly harmful.

“I am equally concerned about the potential rise of the tech-industrial complex that could pose real risks to our country as well. Americans are being buried under a torrent of misinformation and disinformation, allowing for abuses of power. The free press is collapsing. Editors are disappearing,” Biden said. Social media gives up on fact checking.

Biden’s words were a reference to the richest man in the world, Musk, owner of the social media platform

Some of Silicon Valley’s top executives, from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, have also embraced Trump since his electoral victory, and are expected to occupy key positions at the inauguration in Washington on Monday.

Biden also used his remarks to cast a positive light on his one-term presidency, which ended in the major political failure of him dropping his reelection bid in late July, passing the torch of the campaign against Trump to Vice President Kamala. Harris – an effort that ended in bitter defeat.

Biden’s approval ratings have reached new lows as he withdraws from the presidency and from a political life in Washington that spanned more than five decades. Only 36.7 percent of Americans approve of his performance on the job, and 55.8 percent disapprove, according to a FiveThirtyEight polling average.

Biden said he hopes his accomplishments will be judged more positively in the future.

“It will take some time to feel the full impact of everything we have done together, but the seeds have been planted, and they will grow and flourish for decades to come,” he said.

Biden has faced not only harsh criticism from Republicans, but also rebuke from Democrats who blame him for seeking re-election despite his advanced age. He is now 82.

Biden’s presidency has been marked by a record job market and a strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a series of legislative achievements on the economy. But the pain of high inflation became a huge political weakness for him.

On foreign affairs, he took credit for Western support for Ukraine after Russia’s large-scale invasion of the country in 2022, but his response to the Middle East conflict, including strong support for Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked a strong backlash from progressive Democrats. Which undermines the unity of his political coalition.

It was not until Wednesday, five days before he left office, that Biden — with the help of Trump aides — was able to broker a ceasefire agreement to free hostages held by Hamas.

“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That is why I have asked my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because this is how it should be, working together as Americans.”