United States President Joe Biden has used his final formal address as president to warn of the dangers of “oligarchy” and “extreme wealth” to democracy, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to begin his second term with an administration stacked with billionaires.
“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 the televised address from the Oval Office in the White House on Wednesday night.
Biden’s speech comes five days before Trump’s inauguration on January 20 and mere hours after Israel and Hamas announced they had agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, an outcome that appeared to evade the Biden administration for months despite widespread opposition to the war among many Americans.
In his speech, Biden warned of “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people” and “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked”.
President-elect Trump’s incoming administration has at least 11 billionaires holding official positions, according to the Democratic Party. They include the world’s richest man, billionaire Elon Musk, who Trump has said will co-lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Biden also warned that “powerful forces” threatened to undo his climate achievements, as unprecedented wildfires burn in Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the US.
Biden began his speech by briefly referring to the newly announced ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has partly attributed to Trump.
“After eight months of nonstop negotiation by my administration, a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas,” Biden said.
Biden added that while his team had negotiated the deal, he had told them to keep the “incoming administration fully informed” since it would be “largely implemented” by them.
While claiming the ceasefire as an achievement of his presidency, many voters in the 2024 presidential elections said they were unable to support the Democratic Party due to Biden’s dogged support for Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
Biden, 82, dropped out of contention for a second term in office after voters and his own party raised concerns over this performance in the first presidential election debate against then-Republican candidate Donald Trump, with Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, going on to contest the presidency and then losing to Trump.
Biden has used his final days in office to introduce a sweeping ban on offshore oil and natural gas drilling covering more than 625 million acres (253 million hectares) including the “entire US East Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico” and parts of the “Northern Bering Sea in Alaska”.
This has been seen as an apparent move to preempt Trump’s promise to “drill, baby drill” for oil “on day one” of his second term.
Biden said in his farewell address that “it will take time to feel the impact of all we’ve done together, but the seeds are planted, and they’ll grow, and they’ll bloom for decades to come”.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
