Joe Biden issues warning before Donald Trump arrives at the White House

Dark speech, serious tone, severe look. The farewell to the nation of American President Joe Biden on Wednesday January 15 resonated like a warning, five days before the transfer of power to Donald Trump.

During a speech lasting less than twenty minutes, delivered at prime time behind the Oval Office, the future former tenant of the White House expressed concern about seeing America fall into the hands of a “oligarchy”targeting without naming his successor, Donald Trump, and the tech multibillionaires now behind the Republican, first and foremost Elon Musk, called to occupy a key position within the new administration.

“I want to warn the country against certain things that worry me greatly”launched the 82-year-old Democrat. “It’s about the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-rich people” and “dangerous consequences if their power is left without limits”he developed. “An oligarchy is taking shape in America” and she “concretely threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms”continued Joe Biden.

“An avalanche of disinformation”

He mentioned the appearance 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 in power of “military-industrial complex”.

The boss of Tesla, SpaceX and the American television channel NBC. These “three people today own more wealth than the poorest half of American society”Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont), a figure of the left in the United States, protested on Tuesday.

“Americans are buried under an avalanche of disinformation that enables the abuse of power”again deplored Joe Biden, calling for “to be accountable” to social networks and to set up “guardrails” for artificial intelligence. There “concentration of wealth and power (…) undermines the sense of unity and the common good. It causes distrust and division”said the 46 again^e president of the United States.

Abandoning the optimism that often marked his speeches, he was also alarmed by “powerful forces” who would like “eliminate the measures 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.

Humiliation

When he returns to his Republican rival on Monday the keys to the White House, which he had taken away from him through a hard struggle four years ago, Joe Biden will experience a form of humiliation. In 2019, the Democrat assured that Donald Trump “would remain in history as a passing aberration”. But it is the Democrat’s presidency which could remain as the last 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 the Republican’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.

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 the vice-president, Kamala Harris, defeated on November 5. 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.

After fifty years of political life, Joe Biden concluded his speech on a heavy note of responsibility. “Your turn to stand guard”he told his compatriots.