Joe Biden: Outgoing US President warns of oligarchy in the USA

As he left office, US President Joe Biden warned Americans about the emergence of a threatening oligarchy in the country. Biden said in a powerful address to the nation from his office in the White House that he was worried “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.

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

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, wants to become a competitor to Musk’s SpaceX with his space company Blue Origin and has been doing so for several years “Washington Post” heard, before the US election there was an accusation that the editorial team had forgone the election recommendation for the Democrat Kamala Harris out of business considerations.

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.

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”said Biden.

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.”

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 his withdrawal from the election campaign, Biden has been as “lame duck” on the road and worked primarily 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.