An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that threatens our entire democracy, Joe Biden says in farewell speech

US President Joe Biden made it clear he believes that American democracy is at risk with Donald Trump as president as he gave his goodbye speech to the nation on Wednesday, Jan. 15. 

“I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern,” Biden said in a 16-minute address from the Oval Office. 
 

Without specifically calling names, Biden went on to make allusions to Trump and his wealthy advisers as threats to Americans’ freedom. 
 

Biden warned that, “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy,” 

The outgoing president referred to Republican President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address in 1961, when he spoke of a “military-industrial complex” that was consolidating power in Washington. Biden said the new threat was a “tech-industrial” complex. 

“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. 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.” 
 

Some of the richest men in the world — Elon Musk, who runs SpaceX and Tesla and owns the social media platform once known as Twitter; Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg; and Amazon head Jeff Bezos — have taken pains to demonstrate their support for Trump before and since his November election. The three are reportedly planning to sit together in a VIP section at Trump’s coming inaugural. 
 

Biden further called for reforms to the Supreme Court, to Congress, to campaign finance laws and to the presidency itself. 

“We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that no president ― no president ― is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office,” he said, clearly referring to a Supreme Court ruling last July that declared that presidents do have such immunity. 
 

Biden’s term ends Monday at noon, when Trump is to begin his second term. 

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