Change of power in America: Biden warns of danger from oligarchy in the USA as he leaves

As he left office, US President Joe Biden warned Americans about the emergence of a threatening oligarchy in the country. Biden, in a powerful address to the nation from his White House office, said he was concerned about “the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few extremely wealthy people – and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power goes unchecked.” The Democrat was alluding to the growing influence of several billionaires who are rallying around his successor Donald Trump. Trump will be sworn in on Monday.

Warnings about lies and greed for profit

Biden used his speech, which was broadcast live on television, to speak to the conscience of his compatriots. “Today, an oligarchy of extreme wealth, power and influence is emerging in America that threatens literally our entire democracy, our fundamental rights, freedoms and the fair opportunity for everyone to advance,” he warned.

“Americans are being bombarded with misinformation and disinformation, which enables the abuse of power,” the 82-year-old said. “The free press is crumbling, editors are disappearing, fact-checking is being abandoned on social media. The truth is being suppressed by lies spread for reasons of power and profit.” Biden called for social platforms to be held accountable to protect children, families and democracy itself from abuse of power.

The Trump-affiliated billionaires

Biden probably alluded to the very rich US entrepreneurs Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, among others, without mentioning the billionaires by name. They are not only the richest men in America, but in the world – and are conspicuously seeking Trump’s proximity. Tesla and SpaceX boss Musk has a particularly close relationship with the Republican. Musk, who also owns Platform

Zuckerberg, head of the Facebook group Meta, recently initiated a change of course by moving away from the previous moderation model on his social platforms and with it a clear rapprochement with Trump and his party. In doing so, he followed Musk’s line, who largely removed restrictions on statements on the platform after taking over Twitter. Researchers and many users accuse the renamed successor platform X of allowing unbridled hate speech since then. X rejects this.

Amazon founder Bezos, on the other hand, who wants to become a competitor to Musk’s SpaceX with his space company Blue Origin and who has owned the “Washington Post” for several years, was accused before the US election of being based on an election recommendation from the editorial team out of entrepreneurial considerations for the Democrat Kamala Harris.

All three entrepreneurs are said to be hoping that their proximity to Trump will benefit their companies. Musk, Zuckerberg and Bezos are also expected at Trump’s inauguration in Washington on Monday.

Concern about presidential power

Biden also expressed caution with regard to the president-elect. He called for clarification in the Constitution that no president is immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. “The president’s power is not unlimited. It is not absolute,” Biden said.

He was referring to a controversial decision by the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, with its right-wing conservative majority, ruled in July that Trump enjoyed immunity for certain actions from his first term in office. The historic decision came as a result of an indictment against Trump for election fraud. The future president didn’t get a complete blank check for any wrongdoing, but it did give him dangerous leeway for his second term in office.

Biden, in turn, invoked democracy and fundamental rights in his speech and called for their defense. Biden said he had served the country for 50 years – and addressed his compatriots: “Now it’s your turn to keep watch.”

Grand finale after an unprecedented election year

Prime-time speeches from the Oval Office are reserved for moments of crisis and major turning points in the country. Biden’s farewell speech was his fifth and final address of this kind. He last addressed the nation from there at the end of July to talk about his dramatic withdrawal from the presidential race. Just a few days earlier, he had commented on the assassination attempt on Trump in an Oval Office speech. These were drastic changes in an unprecedented election year.

Since withdrawing from the election campaign, Biden has been a “lame duck” and has primarily worked on his political legacy. He provided a piece of the mosaic for this on the day of his big farewell speech: Biden announced a ceasefire in the Gaza war that had been negotiated by the USA, among others. Whether the agreement will last remains to be seen.

Before the farewell speech, the White House published a long list of political successes from Biden’s term in office on dozens of pages. In his speech, Biden himself also listed some of them – and argued that it will take some time before the full impact of all these decisions is felt. However, Trump is likely to try to dismantle Biden’s legacy piece by piece in the coming months and years.