New Delhi:
From warning Americans of an “oligarchy taking shape” to guarding against an avalanche of misinformation, outgoing US President Joe Biden delivered a farewell speech from the Oval Office on Thursday.
Here are the key quotes from the 82-year-old's speech:
1. “Today an oligarchy is taking shape in America with extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy,” he said,
2. Biden warned of a “tech industrial complex” that is “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people.”
3. 'We are seeing the consequences across America, and we have seen it before, more than a century ago, but the American people then rose up against the robber barons and destroyed trust. They didn't punish the rich. I just let the rich play by the rules that everyone else had,” Biden added.
4. “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling abuses of power,” Biden said.
5. He warned of the rhetorical dangers of AI and said America must “take the lead” on China in the transformative technology.
6. Biden said 'powerful forces' threatened his climate performance.
7. “You know, it will take time to feel the full impact of all we have done together, but the seeds have been planted, and they will grow, and they will blossom for decades to come,” Biden said in his farewell address.
8. “The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up fact-checking. The truth is being smothered by lies told for power and profit.”
9. He said that days before his government's term ends, a ceasefire and hostage agreement has been reached in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “After eight months of non-stop negotiations, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage agreement,” he said.
10. “It has been the honor of my life to watch the resilience of essential workers get us through a once-in-a-century pandemic, the heroism of military personnel and first responders who keep us safe, the determination of advocates who standing up for our rights and our freedoms,” Biden said.