Days after former US President Joe Biden warned about the "oligarchy of ultra-wealthy taking root in the US," Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, has issued a similar warning. The former Democratic presidential nomination candidate said, "everyone understands that the billionaire class now controls our government."
Sharing a photo from US President Donald Trump's inauguration, where Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, X CEO Linda Yaccarino, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg are seen seated next to each other, the 83-year-old senator said, "When I started talking about Oligarchy, many people didn't understand what I meant. Well, that's changed."
"When the 3 wealthiest men in America sit behind Trump at his inauguration, everyone understands that the billionaire class now controls our government. We must fight back," he added.
While Musk has been the biggest cheerleader for Trump during the election campaign, Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, had defended the newspaper's decision to not endorse any candidates.
Zuckerberg's Facebook and Instagram had banned Trump's accounts in 2021 following the January 6 Capitol Hill riots.
However, in August 2024, in what appeared to be a clear shift in Zuckerberg's political stance, he said he regrets bowing to what he calls pressure from the Biden administration to ¡°censor¡± content on Facebook and Instagram.
Following Trump's election victory, Meta has announced an end to its fact-check programme and DEI policies in the workplace. Amazon has also rolled back some of its DEI policies to align with those of the Trump administration.
In his last address as US President last week, Biden said a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of oligarchs in the US is threatening the country.
Also read:?Joe Biden warns about 'oligarchy of ultra-wealthy taking root in US', without naming Elon Musk
¡°Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," Biden had said.
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