Donald Trump told a rally in Ohio on Saturday that November's presidential election will be the "most important date" in US history, painting his campaign for the White House as a turning point for the country.
Days after securing his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, the former president also warned of a "bloodbath" if he is not elected -- though it was not clear what he was referring to, with the remark coming in the middle of comments about threats to the US auto industry.
"The date -- remember this, November 5 -- I believe it's going to be the most important date in the history of our country," the 77-year-old told rally-goers in Vandalia, Ohio, repeating well-worn criticisms that his rival, President Joe Biden, is the "worst" president.
Criticizing what he said were Chinese plans to build cars in Mexico and sell them to Americans, he stated: "They're not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected.
"Now if I don't get elected it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole, that's going to be the least of it, it's going to be a bloodbath for the country. That'll be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars."
As Trump's comment gained traction on social media, Biden's campaign released a statement calling the Republican a "loser" at the ballot box in 2020 who then "doubles down on his threats of political violence."
"He wants another January 6 but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge," the campaign said, referring to the deadly attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters in 2021.
Later, Biden spoke at a dinner in Washington, where he also warned of "an unprecedented moment in history."
"Freedom is under assault... The lies about the 2020 election, the plot to overturn it, to embrace the Jan. 6 insurrection pose the greatest threat to our democracy since the American Civil War," he said.
"In 2020, they failed, but ... the threat remains."
The 81-year-old, who has waved off concerns that he is too old for a second term, leavened his rhetoric with humor.
"One candidate's too old and mentally unfit to be president," he said of the presidential race. "The other guy's me."
- Border issues -
Earlier this month Trump and Biden each won enough delegates to clinch their party nominations in the 2024 presidential race, all but assuring a rematch and setting up one of the longest election campaigns in US history.
Among the issues Trump is campaigning on is sweeping reform of what he calls Biden's "horror show" immigration policies, despite successfully pressuring Republicans to block a bill in Congress that included the toughest border security measures in decades.
On Saturday he invoked the border again as he reached out to minorities who have traditionally voted Democrat.
He said Biden had "repeatedly stabbed African-American voters in the back" by granting work permits to "millions" of immigrants, warning that they and Hispanic Americans "are going to be the ones that suffer the most."
For decades Ohio had been seen as a bellwether battleground state, though it has trended more strongly Republican since Trump's White House win in 2016.
The rally came a day after Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, said he would not endorse his old boss for a second White House term.
Biden roasts Trump at Washington press dinner
US President Joe Biden joked about Donald Trump and his own age at an annual media dinner on Saturday -- before unloading deadly serious criticisms of his rival in November's election.
"One candidate's too old and mentally unfit to be president," the 81-year-old Democrat quipped at the Gridiron Club in Washington. "The other guy's me."
Democrat Biden was making his first speech as president at the annual white tie gala for the US media and political elite, an event that Republican former president Trump addressed in 2018.
Biden is trailing in a number of polls and faces voters concerns about his age, which he has tried to address by highlighting 77-year-old Trump's recent verbal slip-ups.
In his remarks, Biden took a swipe at Republicans in Congress who have launched an impeachment inquiry into his son's business dealings, saying they would "rather fail at impeachment than succeed at anything else."
He added that Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, sitting at the head table with Biden on the eve of St. Patrick's Day "took one look at Congress and he asked for another Guinness."
Varadkar and Biden both pushed during a meeting at the White House on Friday for Republicans in Congress to stop blocking military aid for Ukraine to fight Russia's invasion.
But Biden then returned to Trump, saying that the Democrats' election campaign would show how they rebuilt the US economy after the Covid-19 pandemic "without encouraging the American people to inject bleach."
He was referring to an incident when Trump, as president, asked a top medical advisor whether virus victims could be injected with disinfectant to cure them.
"Look, I wish these were jokes, but they're not," added Biden.
"Democracy and freedom are literally under attack. Putin's on the march in Europe. My predecessor bows down to him and says, 'Do whatever the hell you want.'"
Noting that Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, a strong critic of Russia, was also at his table, he added "We will not bow down, they will not bow down and I will not bow down."
Biden added that Trump's false claims to have won the 2020 election, and the January 6 2021 Capitol assault by pro-Trump rioters, showed there was "poison coursing through the veins of our democracy."
He also backed journalists whom Trump has repeatedly attacked, adding: "You are not the enemy of the people. You are a pillar of any free society."
In his own appearance at the Gridiron Club six years ago, Trump did trade unusually playful digs with the Washington press corps and also joked about North Korea and his own leadership style.
The Gridiron dinner -- held behind closed doors with no photos allowed -- sees Washington's elite unwind for a night of self-deprecatory humor which includes costumed members performing a song.
