Oligarchy forming in US that threatens democracy: Biden

US President Joe Biden capped a half-century political career on Jan. 15 with a final Oval Office speech as he hopes to seal a legacy overshadowed by the Democrats' failure to stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House.

- REUTERS

Mr. Biden opened his speech with a familiar message - asking Americans to join together - but quickly warned about a dangerous concentration of wealth in the United States.

"Our system of separation of powers, checks and balances may not be perfect, but it has maintained our democracy for nearly 250 years, longer than any other nation in history that's ever tried such a bold experiment," Mr. Biden said.

But he warned of a "tech-industrial complex" that is bringing an "avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power." The free press, he added, "is crumbling."

Mr. Biden hands over power to Trump at noon on Jan. 20.

Trump has enlisted billionaire Elon Musk, who helped his election efforts, as a special adviser charged with cutting costs in the federal government.

The foreboding speech comes as Mr. Biden's Democratic Party has little leverage in national politics and Trump has nominated a slate of Cabinet members who have pledged to upend traditional American alliances and governing norms.

Mr. Biden ran for president in 2020 as a transition figure, but opted at the unprecedented age of 80 to run for re-election, convinced he was the only Democrat who could beat Trump.

Forced out of the race in July after a disastrous debate against Trump, Mr. Biden has been blamed by some Democrats for their November wipe-out, after Vice-President Kamala Harris' whirlwind campaign lost every battleground state.

Mr. Biden and his allies oversaw the recovery from Covid-19, funded an infrastructure revival, sparked new semiconductor chips manufacturing, and tackled climate change as they tried to rebalance inequality and invest in the future.