WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden delivered a farewell address from the Oval Office as he prepares to transition his power to President-elect Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden capped a half-century political career on Wednesday with a final Oval Office speech as he hopes to seal a legacy overshadowed by Democrats’ failure to stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House.
Biden warned of a developing “oligarchy” in America as he stressed the importance of holding the ultra-wealthy to the same expectations as the working- and middle-class citizens.
“I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And this is a dangerous concern. And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people,” Biden said.
He added, “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.”
He did not name the subjects of his warning, but his targets seemed clear: Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who’s about to have a clear line to the White House.
The president made reference to the concentration of power over a century ago in the hands of “robber barons,” which was broken through antitrust practices, an issue Biden has made a priority during his administration over a century later.
“They didn’t punish the wealthy. They just made the wealthy play by the rules everybody else had to. Workers wanted rights to earn their fair share,” Biden said. “They were dealt into the deal, and it helped put us on a path to building the largest middle class and the most prosperous century any nation in the world has ever seen. We’ve got to do that again.”
