- Written by Gary O'Donoghue and Sam Cabral
- in atlanta and washington
image source, Getty Images
President Joe Biden is on the attack following Thursday's State of the Union address.
As the showdown in the general election draws more attention, Donald Trump and Joe Biden both held campaign rallies in the US state of Georgia.
The 77-year-old former president slammed Thursday's State of the Union address as an “angry, dark, hateful rant.”
An hour later, President Biden, 81, launched a new attack on his rival with a new endorsement.
Both men are currently within striking distance of winning their respective parties' presidential nominations.
Trump has collected 1,076 delegates so far, leaving him with 139 delegates needed to solidify Republican support. Biden attracted 1,859 delegates, 109 delegates short of the number needed to secure the Democratic ticket.
Each player has a chance to accomplish the task in Tuesday's primary, which includes Georgia.
Saturday's shadowboxing showdown between the two also came two days after Biden criticized his predecessor's rhetoric and record in harsh terms during his State of the Union address to Congress.
Speaking in the northwestern city of Rome, Trump slammed his “totally incompetent” opponent for delivering “the most divisive, partisan, extreme speech ever given by a president in this chamber.”
“Joe Biden should not be angry and shout at America,” he argued.
“America should be angry and scream at Joe Biden.”
WATCH: We asked MAGA: Anything good to say about Biden?
He also highlighted last month's murder of Laken Riley, a Georgia college student who was allegedly killed by Border Patrol agents and illegal immigrants.
Immigration is now the top concern for American voters, according to a Gallup poll released last month.
As supporters held up photos of Riley and her family and friends, the former president vowed to “demand justice for Laken” and “close the border.”
He also criticized Biden for rebutting remarks he made in his State of the Union address in which he referred to suspects as “illegal offenders.” In an interview on MSNBC, the president expressed regret that he did not use the term “undocumented,” which Democrats prefer.
Biden's controversial remarks came during an exchange with President Trump's ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who held a rally with Trump in Rome on Saturday, where she lives and is in Congress. He is the representative of
“You can tell a lot about a person by who they hang out with,” Biden told supporters in the capital, Atlanta, about an hour's drive away.
image source, Getty Images
Donald Trump campaigned in Rome, Georgia's hometown of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, on Saturday.
He attacked Trump, who invited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to his Florida home on Friday, saying he was “fawning over would-be dictators and authoritarian thugs around the world.”
The president described November's general election as a “contest between competing factions in a battle for the soul of this country,” and said Trump's “story of grudge, revenge, and revenge” is not in the best interests of voters. repeated.
Biden's re-election campaign is on the offensive, fresh off the back of his State of the Union address, which was watched on television by more than 32 million Americans.
He visited the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Friday and plans to hold rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin next week, as members of his administration also deploy across the country.
In the coming weeks, we will “dramatically expand our volunteer efforts, increase our battlefield staff, launch coalition groups, and invest in new paid media campaigns,” campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said.
One such ad, targeted at voters in seven battleground states over the next six weeks, was released early Saturday and directly addresses concerns about his age.
“Look, I'm not a young man, it's no secret,” he begins, before claiming that the veteran politician's experience has helped him “understand how to get things done for the American people.”
Biden's small but enthusiastic crowd appeared in Atlanta on Saturday, holding signs passed out by organizers with the phrase “We are in this together.”
At the event, the campaign formally announced support from three political action groups to spend $30m (£23.3m) to mobilize black, Latinx and Asian voters in support of the Democratic Party.
The president made many key points from his punchy speech at the Capitol, delivering energetic remarks that seemed to be filled with a new style.
That pace will be difficult to maintain over the next eight months, but it's no surprise that the latest round of retaliation with Trump occurred in Georgia.
According to 2020 election results, southern states are the worst-performing states in the country. Biden won here by less than 12,000 votes.
Biden's victory was largely due to nearly nine out of 10 black voters supporting him, but recent polls have shown worrying signs that Biden is losing ground among many black voters. There is a clear lack of enthusiasm for his candidacy.
Trump is leading in the polls, but he has his problems, too. Georgia is home to one of four criminal cases against him that could go to trial before the election, and he faces 13 charges for allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 loss in the state. is charged with a serious crime.
That means Georgia is on both men's minds, and victory in November could depend on the outcome.
