Outgoing US President Joe Biden warns of dangerous 'oligarchy', ‘extreme wealth’ in dark farewell speech

US President Joe Biden, in his farewell address to the nation on Jan 15, warned of the "dangerous concentration of power" in the hands of a few wealthy people.

Biden also sounded an alarm about an “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy taking root in the country and of a “tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on Americans' rights and the future of democracy.

Speaking from the Oval Office, the outgoing President of the United States raised his concerns over the accumulation of power and wealth among 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," Biden said in his farewell address.

He drew attention to a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people.

“Dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked,” he said.

Biden invokes Dwight D Eisenhower

Biden Invoked President Dwight Eisenhower’s warnings about the military-industrial complex when he left office in 1961, while further expanding it to the current ‘Tech Industrial Complex’.

“I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers to our country as well,” Biden said in his address to the nation.

He sounded the alarm as some of the world’s richest individuals and titans of its technology industry have flocked to Donald Trump’s side in recent months, particularly after his November victory in the Presidential election.

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who currently is the richest person on the planet, spent more than $100 million on helping Trump get elected.

Billionaires like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have donated to Trump’s inaugural fund and made pilgrimages to Trump’s private club in Florida for an audience with the president-elect.

Biden also called for a constitutional amendment to end immunity for sitting presidents, after the Supreme Court granted Trump sweeping protections last year from criminal liability over his role in trying to undermine his 2020 defeat.

Biden will demit office on Jan 20 when Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the country, his second term in the role.