by James Oliphant and Nandita Bose
ROME, Georgia (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival in November’s presidential election, Donald Trump, were campaigning in the state of Georgia on Saturday, where they clashed over issues of immigration and the economy.
The two candidates accused each other of representing a threat to democracy, even though they were in the same state at the same time for the first time.
At a campaign event in Rome, Georgia, Donald Trump said his Democratic rival was using “government as a weapon,” referring to the various cases targeting him.
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“They are trying to eliminate us, but it won’t work,” he said.
Joe Biden, for his part, denounced the meeting between the former tenant of the White House and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, accusing Donald Trump of “licking the boots of dictators and authoritarian bullies around the world”.
“When he says he wants to be a dictator, I believe him,” Joe Biden said.
No state is likely to be as hotly contested as Georgia in the November 5 presidential election. In 2020, Joe Biden narrowly won the election in this state, which fueled accusations of fraud made by Donald Trump.
The former businessman is expected to win the Republican primaries to be held Tuesday in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi and Washington state.
Joe Biden, for his part, is faced with the dissatisfaction of some Democrats with the American policy of support for Israel in the Gaza war, which could influence the outcome of the votes in the Democratic primary in Georgia, also scheduled for Tuesday.
A person was escorted from the compound where the US leader’s campaign event was taking place on Saturday after calling the president “Genocide Joe”.
Groups have launched a campaign in the state to call on voters to leave their ballots blank instead of voting for Joe Biden in the primary, in hopes that the White House will reconsider its support for Israel.
(With contributions from Alexandra Alper and Trevor Hunnicutt; French version Camille Raynaud)
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