A short speech of less than twenty minutes, and a dark tone contrasting with the “optimism” professed over the last four years: from the Oval Office, Joe Biden delivered his farewell speech on Wednesday, January 15, at prime time and a few days away from giving way to Donald Trump. In this speech, the outgoing president expressed particular concern about seeing America fall into the hands of an “oligarchy”, targeting without naming his successor and the tech multi-billionaires now behind him.
“I want to warn the country about certain things that worry me greatly,” said the 82-year-old Democrat, five days before handing over power to his biggest rival, the Republican president-elect. “It’s about the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-rich people” and the “dangerous consequences if their power is left unchecked,” he said.
“An oligarchy is taking shape in America” and it “concretely threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” continued Joe Biden, in an obvious allusion to Donald Trump, billionaire, as well as to the extremely wealthy tech bosses, first and foremost Elon Musk. He spoke of the emergence of a “technological-industrial complex” with immense power, echoing the farewell speech of former President Dwight Eisenhower, who had warned in 1961 against the rise of the “military complex”. -industrial”.
The boss of Tesla, SpaceX and American NBC. These “three people today have more wealth than the poorest half of American society,” Bernie Sanders, a figure of the left in the United States, protested on Tuesday.
“Avalanche of disinformation”
“Americans are buried under an avalanche of disinformation that allows the abuse of power,” Joe Biden further deplored, calling for social networks to be “accountable” and to put in place “safeguards” on the ‘artificial intelligence. The “concentration of wealth and power […] undermines the sense of unity and the common good”, said the 46th President of the United States, who was surrounded by members of his family. He was also alarmed by the “powerful forces” who would like to “eliminate the steps we have taken to tackle the climate crisis.”
These very strong warnings relegated to second place, in his speech, the desire to defend his record, in particular the launch of gigantic investment plans and the reestablishment of the United States’ major international alliances.
Fifty years of political life
When he returns to his Republican rival on Monday the keys to the White House, which he had taken from him after a hard struggle four years ago, the 82-year-old Democrat will experience immense humiliation. In 2019, Joe Biden assured that Donald Trump “would go down in history as a passing aberration”. But it is his presidency which for the moment stands out as an anomaly, or the final hiccup of a bygone era, in a country shaken by violent political, cultural and economic changes.
Joe Biden was sworn in two weeks after the assault on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump, who refused to recognize the defeat of their champion in the presidential election. An unpopular president, he was never able to remove concerns about his age or counter the appeal of Donald Trump’s populist rhetoric. Only 36% of Americans have a positive view of his presidency and 33% have a favorable opinion of him, according to a poll published Wednesday by CNN. If Joe Biden leaves his successor with robust growth and very low unemployment, his mandate remains synonymous for American households with a very sharp increase in the cost of living.
The Democratic president had decided in the spring of 2023 to run again against Donald Trump but withdrew from the race in July, giving way to Vice-President Kamala Harris, clearly beaten on November 5. Concluding his speech, on the evening of fifty years of political life, Joe Biden told his compatriots: “It’s your turn to stand guard.”