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© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Biden warns in farewell address that an oligarchy of ultrarich in U.S. threatens future of democracy
By ZEKE MILLER, CHRIS MEGERIAN and COLLEEN LONG WASHINGTON©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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30 Comments
Jay
Farewell, Joe. Your presidency will be remembered for its unique...umm... charm(?) One things for sure, we definitely can't help but be moved by some of your most memorable quotes. Here are some of the best:
"You know, the thing" - Forgetting the Declaration of Independence mid-quote.
Corn Pop saga - A wild tale of poolside gang diplomacy with a guy named Corn Pop.
"Poor kids are just as bright as white kids" - A well-meaning attempt at equality that went slightly off-track.
Shaking hands with air - Forgetting he'd already finished greeting everyone on stage.
"Trunalimunumaprzure" - Whatever that was... still trying to decode it.
"Where's Jackie?" - Asking for a deceased Congresswoman in the middle of a speech.
"I got HAIRY LEGS" - A surreal tangent about leg hair and kids at a pool.
"Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people" - A geography mix-up for the ages.
Falling off his bike - Even stationary moments can be unpredictable.
"If you don’t vote for me, you ain't Black" - A racially-charged attempt at humor that fell flat.
Simply inspirational stuff. Thanks, Joe. Safe travels back to Delaware!
maxjapank
It is. Time for working-class Americans to level the playing field. Income inequlity is too great.
Blacklabel
he was unconcerned about this when these people were on his team.
and don’t forget the pardons!
itsonlyrocknroll
WATCH LIVE: Biden's farewell address from the White House | PBS News Special Report
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlFXvRfBTjg
No spontaneity, little emotional pause, Joe Biden reading from an autocue.
Democrats that knew Joe Biden age related cognitive decline when taking office, then cynically hid that from the US people are truly shameful.
Not only that, created an deceptive illusion
President Biden could well have been a a clear danger to such office.
Sorry to state so.
Cephus
Maxjapank,
"It is. Time for working-class Americans to level the playing field. Income inequality is too great."
Said the career politician who has been in power for over 50 years. Making and endorsing policies that created that income inequality in the first place.
Peter Neil
wealth disparity is more today than in 1929.
800 people have more wealth than half of all americans.
MiuraAnjin
Get ready for another four years of Alternative Facts.
GuruMick
If you think Joe was bad, wait until Trump.
Previously when in office he had to have people say "No Mr. President, you cant do that, the Constitution doesnt allow it "
Mass resignations followed.
Now Trump has stacked his Cabinet and advisors with yes men with zero experience in actual Government.
Say what you will about the "old school ", whom Trump derides as the swamp, at least these players knew the rules of the game.
Government is not something you reinvent one day after inauguration.
Aly Rustom
Jay, you forgot "Look, we beat Medicare"
maxjapank
Cephus,
I'm not arguing against that. To be fair, all of this started with Reagan. And it's continued. And now it's become fully visual with a criminal in the lead. In the end, though, it's very hard to argue that income equality is fair right now. None of us should be struggling to afford housing, paying for education and health care, and taking care of our families. It's time to change, and yet we are looking at another four years of the rich gettng richer.
Bad Haircut
This didn't seem to bother him during his entire political career. It's only when rich people he doesn't like get some political clout that it becomes a problem....
itsonlyrocknroll
Biden also called for a constitutional amendment to end immunity for sitting presidents.
This statement actually infuriates, it is frankly quite irritating.
The hypocrisy is glaring, in its breathtakingly crass insincerity.
If Joe Biden truly supported such an initiative, poses the question why did Biden not pursue vigorously over his four years in office?
Gahan
What a staggeringly underwhelming (bordering on useless) presidency the US suffered under Joe Biden. For political expediency he embraced the dead-end, progressive nonsense that is wokeism. He turned illegal immigration and border security into a full blown crisis and left the US economy (and by extension the world's) on the brink of collapse with the US's addiction to debt. The worst US President since Carter. He won't be missed.
Toblerone
Gee, not the tiniest of peeps out of Joe when the “oligarchy” was on his side. He literally never said a word!
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out Joe.
Scranton awaits you.
Toblerone
What a staggeringly underwhelming (bordering on useless) presidency the US suffered under Joe Biden. For political expediency he embraced the dead-end, progressive nonsense that is wokeism. He turned illegal immigration and border security into a full blown crisis and left the US economy (and by extension the world's) on the brink of collapse with the US's addiction to debt. The worst US President since Carter. He won't be missed.
I couldn’t agree more.
Blacksamurai
3 razzies for the exiting Joe Biden. Sure, he and the Democrat Party think the USA is so threatened by the ultra rich that they cultivate and do deals with ultra rich like George Soros, select ultra rich Chinese business contacts, lobbysits for massive multinational businesses, high flyers in the tech industry, ultra rich corporate presidents who self righteously backed BLM even when some protests turned to riots that gutted the stores and businesses of decent ordinary people earning their own living instead of being on the gravy train etc.
And of course old shakey Joe's brand of nepotism is so much better. Funny how his and Hunter Biden's connections with Russian and Chinese businesses didn't get much airing in the media even when his son was rightly up on criminal charges. There's no political biz like hypocrisy.
Ricky Kaminski13
Joe is the end of an era. One that won’t be missed.
Bye bye now.
Negative Nancy
Bye 'den.
lincolnman
Who'd have thunk...Uber-MAGA hero Steve Bannon agreeing with Joe Biden...
Both think a cartel of ultra-rich grifters are taking over government - Bannon goes even farther calling them "racist" and "evil"....
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/bannon-musk-racist-trump-maga-rcna187468
Bannon has told one to "Go back to South Africa"....
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/steve-bannon-former-trump-strategist-says-elon-musk-should-go-back-to-south-africa-7468917
And criticizes the other for calling American workers "mediocre"....
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/steve-bannon-criticizes-musk-and-ramaswamy-over-immigration-policies-in-maga-conflict/ar-AA1wBzYG?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1
Wonder if Trump is listening to him?
Zaphod
Just saw it. That was a horrible message. To his credit, I doubt that aging Biden wrote it himself, it was probably concocted by a party zealot who has been writing campaign speeches.
Blacklabel
who? Didn’t seem to be mentioned in the article.
Toblerone
Sleepy Joe vying with Jimmy Carter for title of worst president of all time. That is some legacy Joe.
Blacklabel
A more relevant quote about Biden’s oligarchs:
“Mark Zuckerberg gave him $419 million to warp the 2020 election in key states, and he had no problem with that oligarch.
"Reid Hoffman, another billionaire, funded the E Jean Carroll lawsuit to go after Donald Trump. He had no problem with that oligarch."
"He gave the Medal of Freedom citizen freedom to George Soros, who pretty much did his best to destroy the criminal justice system in our big cities."
"So he's not credible."
ok1517
President Biden is oh so right (again)
And talking about oligarchs, Black, seen this?
SpaceX (i.e. Elon Musk) $265,044,023
Investor/Timothy Mellon $150,000,000
Securing American Greatness (Trump buddy Budowich - Russian name??) $67,558,284
Building America'S Future (again Elon - he invests quite a lot) $23,635,000
And the list continues endlessly!!!
Blacklabel
Ok, and?
Joe likes oligarchs fine. Just not just those you listed.
oh. So we implying things about people just by their names now?
starpunk
Joe's right and we all know it. And his statement is reminiscent of Ike's farewell speech where he warned about a 'military industrial complex'. Ike knew from experience, and Joe does too.
People said the exact same damn thing 40 years ago about Ronald Reagan, and esp. during his 2nd term he suffered from Alzheimer's before it even had a name. He got derided and joked about concerning that. Alzheimer's and dementia are no laughing matter, ever. It wasn't funny when Ronnie had it, and if Joe has it, it still isn't funny.
I myself have known some people who suffered from that, it's not funny. I lost two uncles to it, and many entertainers have died from it too.
Reagan and Biden still were capable and mature enough to get some things accomplished. And tRump is totally deranged with arrogant narcisstic delusions of godhood and gross immaturity, uncouth unsociability and a total lack of class. He has to mature beyond the age of 11. Big difference.
RichardPearce
The world just bid farewell to Jimmy Carter because he pulled America forward a little towards the world while in office, and more afterwards.
That won't be true of Biden who's term in office has been on of America trying to pull the world backwards towards America while in office, even though he is sandwiched between the terms of a President who succeeded in dragging America even further backwards than it was