President Joe Biden gave his farewell speech on Wednesday evening, capping off a 48-year career in federal politics that saw him rise from the youngest senator on Capitol Hill to the oldest president in U.S. history.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Biden warned about a growing oligarchy, the dangers of a potential “tech-industrial complex,” and called for a constitutional amendment to end immunity for sitting presidents’ official acts.
“Today an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy,” Biden said, less than one week after President-elect Donald Trump’s administration returns to the White House, this time with the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, set to serve as the co-commissioner of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency.
The sitting president also warned of the “profound possibilities and risks” that will be inherent with the popular use of artificial intelligence (AI), advised that “safeguards” should be placed on the technology, and said the United States should not let a totalitarian state, like China, dominate the AI innovation space.
“In the age of AI, it’s more important than ever that the people must govern. And as the land of liberty, America, not China, must lead the world in the development of AI,” said the president.
Despite listing potential existential threats to democracy, Biden also drew on the imagery of the Statue of Liberty, comparing the country’s historic stability to the famous statue’s ability to sway back and forth over time without failing.
“She is built to sway back and forth to face the fury of stormy weather, to stand the test of time because storms are always coming,” he said.
Biden, who will have the distinction of serving one single term between both of Trump’s single terms, is scheduled to complete the transfer of power that has gone on uninterrupted since the country’s Constitution was ratified in 1788.
First elected to public office in 1970 as a New Castle County councilman in Delaware, Biden won a U.S. Senate seat just two years later, two weeks before his 30th birthday. In 2021, he became the oldest president ever sworn in when he took office at the age of 78.
In a week where the Senate hearings for Trump’s cabinet picks are dominating the headlines, reports broke Wednesday afternoon claiming that a peace deal was agreed to between Israel and Hamas. Biden started his farewell address by confirming that a ceasefire deal had been reached between the two warring sides.
Biden claimed this victory in the Middle East as his own, adding that Trump’s team will be enacting a plan made possible by his administration’s consistent efforts.
“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team, and it will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed. Because that’s how it should be, working together as Americans,” Biden said.
Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday, “We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly. Thank you!”
The president said in his farewell speech that the positive effects of his policies have yet to be felt.
“It will take time to feel the full impact of what we’ve done together. But the seeds are planted, and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come,” said Biden, adding that “the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. It’s up to us to make those dreams come true.”
Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President at noon on Jan. 20 at the U.S. Capitol.