President Joe Biden delivered his farewell address to the nation Wednesday night, taking time to highlight his accomplishments and warning Americans about what he called an oligarchy “of extreme wealth, power and influence” taking root in the U.S., specifically raising concern about the tech industry’s growing sway.
US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White ... [+]
Biden said he was “concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex” that he said “could pose real dangers for the U.S.”
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Biden was elected in 2020 after defeating then-President Donald Trump with 51.3% of the popular vote and 306 electoral votes.
The Biden administration addressed the pandemic through multiple initiatives that increased vaccinations, decreased unemployment and supported a boom in the small business sector. Among the wins the Biden administration counts are its efforts on securing a multibillion-dollar infrastructure deal, furthering clean energy initiatives, lowering drug costs and boosting semiconductor manufacturing amid a boom in artificial intelligence.
Biden pulled the U.S. out of its long, costly war in Afghanistan by finishing an agreement made between Trump’s administration and the Taliban, but the exit was sharply criticized and disastrous, with the Taliban promptly taking over the nation’s capital in a withdrawal that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of Afghan civilians. Immigration was a major pain point for Biden’s presidency, as the president did not largely address record illegal border crossings into the U.S. until the final months of his presidency, when he launched a crackdown on the number of asylum seekers allowed to enter the U.S. By last summer, in the heat of his reelection bid, Biden’s approval rating had fallen to around 38% after starting at 53% when he became president. Biden’s battle against Trump ahead of the general election did not help his approval rating, with observers taking note of a poor debate performance and public appearance riddled with gaffes, silences and verbal miscues. Biden eventually withdrew from the election, entrusting the Democratic party to Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November.
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