Trump says Joe Biden is an ‘enemy of the state’ in Pennsylvania rally rant

Trump accuses Biden of having ‘vilified’ ex-president’s supporters during a speech in Philadelphia

Former president Donald Trump on Saturday said Joe Biden, the sitting president of the United States and the man who defeated him nearly two years ago, is an “enemy of the state” who is somehow controlled by a shadowy cabal of other enemies.

Mr Trump, who is currently under investigation for violations of multiple federal laws against mishandling national defence information and obstruction of justice stemming from his alleged theft of over 11,000 government documents, attacked his successor in remarks at a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania rally in support of Republican candidates in November’s midterm elections.

He noted that Mr Biden had gone to Philadelphia for a primetime speech in which he spoke about the threat to American democracy posed by Mr Trump and his supporters, who reject the legitimacy of elections won by Democrats and institutions that are not firmly under the control of the Republican Party.

Mr Trump accused Mr Biden of having “vilified” the 71 million voters who supported the ex-president in 2020 as “threats to democracy and as enemies of the state”.

He said it was the current president who is actually the enemy.

“He's an enemy of the state, if you want to know the truth. The enemy of the state is him and the group that control him which is circling around him,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump also accused the sitting president of being “cognitively impaired and in no condition to lead our country,” though he offered no evidence to support his claims.