US President Joe Biden delivers farewell address to the nation

US President Joe Biden’s final address has been branded “resentful”, as he warned against what he called a “tech-industrial complex” in a veiled attack on Elon Musk.

US President Joe Biden has copped criticism after he urged Americans to stand guard against a “dangerous” oligarchy forming under Donald Trump, after he delivered a dark farewell address.

In a primetime speech from the Oval Office 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.

Biden warned there was a “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people” with “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”

His speech touched on his legacy and subject including America’s future, the threat of climate change, dangers of social media and artifical intelligence among others.

He also paid tribute to his Vice-President Kamala Harris, his “amazing First Lady” Jill Biden, his staff as well as the American people.

“In my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And that’s a 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,” Mr Biden said.

“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.”

He then lashed out at social media firms, with Musk having turned X into a right-wing megaphone and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg ending fact-checking operations in the US as he courts Trump.

He also cautioned over the rise of AI, saying that America must take the lead over China on it.

“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation,” said Biden.

He also advocated for Supreme Court justices to be limited to terms of 18 years, and called for a constitutional amendment to be made so presidents are not immune from prosecution for “official acts.”

”We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that no president, no president, is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office,” he said.

Biden spoke to just under 18 minutes, and wished Mr Trump well.

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