In his farewell address to the country on Wednesday, January 15, US President Joe Biden made it apparent that he feels that Donald Trump's presidency threatens American democracy.
“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 departing president made reference to Republican President Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 farewell speech, in which he discussed the consolidation of power in Washington by a "military-industrial complex." Biden claimed that a "tech-industrial" complex was the new threat.
“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 wealthiest men in the world, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, who owns the social media site formerly known as Twitter and operates SpaceX and Tesla, have gone to great lengths to show their support for Trump both before and after his election in November. The three are reportedly planning to sit together in a VIP section at Trump’s coming inaugural.
Biden also demanded changes to the laws governing campaign funding, the Supreme Court, Congress, and 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.
Watch the video below.