Biden warns of ‘oligarchy’ threatening US democracy in farewell address

US President Joe Biden urged Americans to stand guard against a “dangerous” oligarchy forming under Donald Trump as he delivered a dark farewell address before stepping down next week.

In a prime time speech from the Oval Office on Wednesday at the end of his single term in office, he warned of an ultra-wealthy “tech industrial complex” that he said could gain unchecked power over the American people.

“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,” the 82-year-old Democrat said.

Biden began his speech by touting the legacy of his four years in office, saying it may take time to feel the benefits but that the “seeds were planted” for Americans in the future.

But he soon turned to painting a series of dangers that he said were facing the United States, which clearly referred to billionaire Trump’s close ties to the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, and other tech tycoons.