On Wednesday, January 15, 2025, President Joe Biden delivered his final address to the nation. Seated in the Oval Office, the President used the utmost decorum as he praised his administration for its part in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and its commitment to a peaceful transfer of power. He also warned of the looming threat of oligarchy—without mentioning incoming President Trump by name once during his speech.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he warned of “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”
Biden advised the American people to implement policies to limit the growing oligarchy, including term limits on Supreme Court Justices, prohibiting Congress from trading stocks, eliminating hidden donations in political campaigns, and making sure billionaires “pay their fair share” by rewriting the tax code. According to federal data, the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans own more than the bottom 5% five times over.
He also warned Americans to be wary in the next four years as technology advances at unprecedented rates. His warnings come as billionaires who made their fortunes in the tech industry, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, have flocked to Trump’s side. Following Trump’s victory, social media platforms such as Meta have repealed fact-checking and hate speech protocols to allow for more far-right voices on their platforms.
Just as Biden warned about the increase in misinformation due to advances in AI coming at the same time as decreased fact-checking, Trump posted continuous false claims that the President was delivering a pre-recorded speech.
One of his final requests to the American people was to call for a constitutional amendment to end Presidential immunity following the Supreme Court ruling regarding Trump’s involvement with the January 6, 2021, attacks.
As Biden concluded his address, he reflected on his five decades as a civil servant. As a senator for Delaware, he was the youngest member of Congress at 30 years old. He ran for office in 1988 and 2008 and served two terms as Vice President to Barack Obama before retiring from politics. He returned in 2020, spurred by the violence he had witnessed in Charlottesville following Trump’s rise to political power. Though he acknowledged his party’s defeat in the 2024 election, he also praised his Vice President, Kamala Harris, who he said had become a member of his family.
