Biden warns of a 'great concern' in farewell address

President Joe Biden issued a dire warning to the American people about the coming four years under the next Donald Trump administration, in his farewell address on Wednesday — even as he tried to strike the most optimistic tone he could that America would remain strong after he left.

"I'm so proud of how much we've accomplished together for the American people, and I wish the incoming administration's success because I want America to succeed," said Biden. "That's why I have held my duty to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition of power, to ensure we lead by the power of our example. I have no doubt that America is in a position to continue to succeed."

Biden then cautioned the country about what he sees as a major threat to democracy: the "tech-industrial complex" and the death of social media fact-checking.

"That's why in my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern," said Biden. "And this is a dangerous concern. And that's the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. 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, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead."

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"We see the consequences all across America, and we've seen it before," added Biden. "More than a century ago, when the American people stood up to the robber barons back then and busted the trusts, they didn't punish the wealthy. They just made the wealthy play by the rules. Everybody else had to. Workers want rights to earn their fair share. You know, they were dealt into the deal, and it helped put us on a path to building the largest middle class and the most prosperous century any nation in the world has ever seen."

Beyond the concentration of wealth, Biden also warned that new technologies are growing in ways that threaten social order — a "tech-industrial complex," he said, to match the military-industrial complex former President Dwight Eisenhower warned of in his farewell address in 1961.

"Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation," Biden said. "The free press is crumbling" and "social media is giving up on fact-checking."