The outgoing US President Joe Biden has urged Americans to "stand guard" against a "dangerous"oligarchy forming under Donald Trump in a dark farewell address before he steps down next week.
In his primetime speech from the Oval Office after a single term in office, *he warned of an ultra-wealthy tech industrial complex" 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 by touting the legacy of his four years in power, saying it may take time to feel the benefits but that "seeds were planted" for Americans in the future.
But he turned to a series of dangers that he said were facing the United States, which clearly referred to Trump's ties to the world's richest man, Elon Musk, and other tech tycoons.
Biden appeared to have Musk in mind when he warned of a "dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people".
The term oligarchy refers to a government that is run by a handful of people, often for their own gain.
The veteran Democrat warned that "Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power".
