US President Joe Biden has used his farewell address to the nation to deliver a stark warning about an oligarchy of the ultra-wealthy taking root in the United States, as well as the dangers of a “tech-industrial complex” threatening the future of democracy.
Speaking from the Oval Office as he prepares to hand over power on Monday to president-elect Donald Trump, Mr Biden seized what is likely to be his final opportunity to address the nation as president to spotlight the accumulation of power and wealth among just a small 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,” Mr Biden said.
“[There will be] dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked … we see the consequences all across America and we have seen it before.”
Loading…
While the president’s warning made headlines across the world, his speech contained a number of other departures from his usually optimistic tone, as well as a series of proposals that would up-end existing rules around presidential immunity, campaign finance and the Supreme Court.
Here are the most significant messages and proposals to emerge from Mr Biden’s final Oval Office address.
‘Tech-industrial complex’ poses ‘real dangers’
In addition to railing against the concentration of wealth, Mr Biden invoked former president Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 warning about the rise of a “military-industrial complex” by speaking of “a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers to our country as well”.
Some of the world’s richest individuals and titans of its technology industry have flocked to Trump’s side in recent months, including billionaire Elon Musk, who spent more than $US100 million ($160 million) helping Trump get elected.
Mr Biden’s warnings marked a departure from his usually optimistic tone about America’s future. (Pool via AP Photo: Mandel Ngan)
Americans are being “buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation” as social media giants like Mr Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta give up on fact-checking, Mr Biden said.
“The truth is smothered by lies, told for power and for profit,” he said.
“We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families, and our very democracy from the abuse of power.”
At the same time that Mr Biden was criticising social media companies for retreating from fact-checking, Trump’s incoming communications director and press secretary were sharing posts on X that falsely claimed the president had delivered a prerecorded speech.
Amendment to end presidential immunity
Mr Biden also used his speech to renew his support for one of his most ambitious proposals: an amendment to the United States Constitution “to make clear that no president — no president — is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office”.
The proposal is related to a landmark Supreme Court ruling from last summer, when justices said former presidents have broad immunity for official acts while they’re in the White House.
The ruling had major legal consequences, significantly narrowing the case against Trump for attempting to overturn his 2020 loss. The charges were dismissed following Trump’s win in November because sitting presidents can’t be prosecuted.
In addition to the ruling’s impact on Trump’s case, Mr Biden has said he is deeply troubled by the possibility that it would turn presidents into unaccountable monarchs, unable to be constrained by the rule of law.
SCOTUS term limits, Congress trading ban
Some of the other policy prescriptions Mr Biden offered during his address reflected positions he has long held, such as support for changes to the US tax code to ensure billionaires “pay their fair share”.
Others, such as a ban on members of Congress from trading stocks, reflected more recent positions he has adopted only since the 2024 election — exciting some progressive supporters, but frustrating others who have pointed out he did little to advance those causes during his four years in the White House.
Mr Biden also spoke about the need to get dark money — “that hidden funding behind too many campaign contributions” — out of politics, referring to the flood of election spending by outside “political action” groups that don’t need to disclose their donors, undermining the intent behind campaign contribution limits.
Finally, the president reiterated his calls from earlier this year for 18-year term limits for members of the Supreme Court, as well as “the strongest ethics reforms” — likely referring to his support for a binding code of conduct for the court’s nine justices, in the wake of a number of ethics scandals to have rocked the institution during the past 12 months.
A nod to his vice-president
Mr Biden was accompanied in the Oval Office by first lady Jill Biden, his son Hunter, and other family members including his four-year-old grandson, Beau.
Also present were Vice-President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. Ms Harris replaced Mr Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket when he abandoned his re-election bid after a disastrous debate performance.
Mr Biden endorsed Ms Harris and hoped she would be replacing him as the country’s first female president. Instead, she watched as Mr Biden spoke about a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.
Mr Biden arrives to deliver his address as Kamala Harris and her husband watch on. (Pool via AP Photo: Mandel Ngan)
Mr Biden said Ms Harris had been “a great partner” during his time in the White House, adding that she and Mr Emhoff had become “like family”.
When he said that, Jill Biden reached over and squeezed Ms Harris’s hand.
While many presidents have chosen to deliver their final address from the Oval Office in the past, Mr Biden is the first since Bill Clinton to do so.
George W Bush spoke from the White House’s East Room, while Barack Obama addressed the nation from his home city of Chicago.
Donald Trump never conceded his 2020 election loss, but he delivered a pre-taped address from the White House’s Blue Room that was made public on January 19, 2021, the day before Mr Biden’s inauguration.
AP/ABC
This post was originally published on here
