Don’t expect an end to the war of words between Donald Trump and Joe Biden

The current and former presidents have set out their stalls ahead of the midterms in November – and they are aiming at each other, writes Chris Stevenson

Donald Trump showed in Pennsylvania on Saturday that creating a situation where he and his supporters are outsiders is exactly what he wants (AP)

Donald Trump had some choice words for Joe Biden at his weekend rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, held nominally to support the midterm campaigns of Dr Mehmet Oz for the US Senate and Doug Mastriano’s bid to become next governor of the state.

But the pair appeared only briefly and Trump generally got on with the business of verbally attacking both Biden and the FBI following the raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last month.

During the search of that property, the FBI recovered a significant number of documents, some with classified or top secret markings. Trump has denied wrongdoing. On Saturday night, Trump called the raid “shameful” and a “travesty” and reached into his usual political playbook to link his frustrations and the frustrations of his supporters. “We are being assaulted … by the FBI and DoJ [Department of Justice],” he said – adding a bit of general denunciation as he is want to do: “The FBI and the Justice Department have become vicious monsters, controlled by radical-left scoundrels, lawyers and the media, who tell them what to do.”