Biden warns of ‘ultra-rich’ ‘oligarchies’ as big tech CEOs warm to Trump
President Biden warned in his farewell speech about the “ultra-wealthy” “oligarchy” posing a threat to America as big tech CEOs warmed to President-elect Trump in recent months — despite his own administration accepting donations from Democratic mega-donors.
Biden spoke Wednesday after reports emerged this week that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — the world’s three richest people, who are worth more than $850 billion combined, according to Forbes — will sit next to Trump’s cabinet selection and elected officials next Monday at his inauguration.
“I have no doubt that America is in a position to continue to succeed. That is why in my farewell address tonight I want to warn the country about some things that worry me very much. And that is the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few, ultra-rich people and the dangerous consequences if it is abused power is not controlled,” Biden said from the Oval Office.
“Today, an oligarchy of extreme wealth, power and influence is taking shape in America that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights, freedoms and fair opportunities for all to thrive,” Biden continued. “We’re seeing the consequences all over America, and we’ve seen them before, over a century ago. But the American people then stood up to the robber barons and destroyed trust. They didn’t punish the rich, they just made the rich play by the rules that everyone else had to play by. ”
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Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Bezos, founder of Amazon, and Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, met with Trump at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, after his election victory in November.
During the election cycle, Musk gave at least $277 million in donations to help get Trump and other Republicans elected, according to Washington Post, which cited Federal Election Commission filings.
Tech giants including Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google and Microsoft are reported that he had donated $1 million each for Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
In 2023 George Soros and other prominent billionaires backed Biden’s re-election effort during the third quarter, documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show.
Each of the deep-pocketed donors dropped six-figure contributions to the Biden Victory Fund — a joint fundraising effort comprised of the Biden campaign, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), all 50 state Democratic parties and the Washington, DC Democratic Committee — between July and September.
Later in 2023, Fox News Digital confirmed that a Soros-funded group pushed $15 million to a nonprofit affiliated with Biden’s main outside super PAC for the 2024 election to weigh in on key policy issues, records reveal.
Tax filings provided to Fox News Digital showed that the Open Society Policy Center, a nonprofit advocacy organization in the Soros-funded Open Society Foundations network, directed $15.18 million to Future Forward USA Action 2022 to research and “test content on critical policy issues.”
That same year, billionaire Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, dropped out a massive six-figure donation supporting Biden’s re-election bid.
Back in 2020, billionaires Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, ex Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg and investor Tom Steyer made significant donations to the Biden campaign.
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For his role in the incoming Trump administration, Musk has been tasked with leading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will examine issues of government spending, waste, efficiency and operations.
To do this, Musk can take up space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building just off the west wing that houses most of the office space for White House staff, the New York Times reported.
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Biden also said in his farewell speech that American leadership and technology are “an unparalleled source of innovation that can transform lives,” but “we see the same dangers, the concentration of technology, power and wealth.”
“You know, in his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. He warned us then of the, quote, potential for a catastrophic rise in misplaced power, end quote. Six decades later, I am equally concerned about the potential rise of the technological of an industrial complex that could pose a real danger to our country as well,” Biden added.
“Americans are inundated with an avalanche of disinformation and disinformation, which allows abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is being choked by lies told for power and profit,” the president continued. “We must hold the social platform accountable.” to protect our children, our families and our democracy itself from the abuse of power.
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“In the meantime, artificial intelligence is the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time. Nothing offers deeper opportunities and risks for our economy and our security, our society, for humanity. Artificial intelligence even has the potential to help us answer my questions. ending cancer as we know it, but if there are no safeguards in place, AI could create new threats to our rights, our way of life, our privacy, how we work and how we protect our nation safe and reliable and good for all humanity,” Biden said.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller, Joe Schoffstall, Jessica Chasmar and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.