Biden and Trump trade 'unhinged', 'crooked' barbs

ATLANTA — Former US president Donald Trump used an expletive to attack the incumbent President Joe Biden during an address to an influential gun group on Saturday, while Biden warned that Trump is "unhinged" and a threat to US democracy.

Trump sought to make the most of his limited time on the campaign trail, with a criminal trial over hush money payments to a porn star keeping him mostly confined to a gloomy New York courtroom.

In a 90-minute rambling address to the politically powerful National Rifle Association, Trump said Biden is "the worst president in the history of our country by far" and suggested the Democrat was "full of bullshit".

"You're fired. Get out of here, Joe," he called out to laughter from the thousands-strong crowd in Dallas, Texas, where the NRA gave the 77-year-old Republican its endorsement in the White House race.

Trump, who is fending off numerous criminal indictments for his attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election and was twice impeached as president, told the crowd Biden is "crooked" and a "threat to democracy".

If Biden were Republican, he would be "given the electric chair," Trump said.

In the key southern state of Georgia Biden, 81, was stumping to seek support from African Americans, a crucial element in his coalition.

Biden narrowly won Georgia in 2020, and some polls suggest black voters are increasingly deserting him as his rematch with Trump looms.

"Our democracy is really on the line," Biden told supporters in Atlanta.

"My opponent's not a good loser. But he is a loser," Biden said, adding that "He's clearly unhinged".

A recent New York Times/Siena poll showed Biden trailing Trump in several key battleground states, even though Trump faces four criminal cases.

Trump routinely claims the prosecutions are a conspiracy by Biden to prevent his return to the White House.

Trump's appearance before the NRA came after the White House last month moved to crack down on firearm sales at gun shows and online that evade federal background checks.

Biden has repeatedly called for a long-lapsed ban on military-style assault weapons to be reinstated, among other restrictions.

Warnings that Democrats would take away US citizens' guns are a core theme at Trump's events, most recently at a fundraising dinner in Minnesota on Friday. "If the Biden regime gets four more years they are coming for your guns, 100 percent certain," Trump said.

There were more than 40,000 gun-related deaths in the US last year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Agencies Via Xinhua