US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump warned of dire consequences for the country if the other wins another term in the White House as the pair held rallies in Georgia.
The pair are fresh off strong wins in Super Tuesday contests that positioned them for an all-but-certain rematch this November.
The state of Georgia was a pivotal 2020 battleground – so close four years ago that Mr Trump finds himself indicted here for his push to “find 11,780 votes” and overturn Mr Biden’s victory – and both parties are preparing for another closely contested race in the state this year.
Mr Biden opened his speech at a rally in Atlanta, noting that Mr Trump was across the state with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firebrand legislator who has gone from the fringes of her party to the fore.
“It can tell you a lot about a person who he keeps company with,” Mr Biden said to applause.
Mr Biden noted that Mr Trump had hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban – who has rolled back democracy in his country – at his Florida club the day before.
“When he says he wants to be a dictator, I believe him,” Mr Biden said of Mr Trump.
“Our freedoms are literally on the ballot this November.”
Mr Biden hosted the rally at Pullman Yards, a 27-acre arts and entertainment venue in Atlanta that was formerly an industrial site, to receive the endorsement of Collective PAC, Latino Victory Fund and AAPI Victory Fund, a trio of political groups representing, respectively, black, Latino, and Asian Americans and Pacific Island voters.
The groups announced a 30 million dollar (£23.3 million) commitment to mobilise voters for Mr Biden.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, is expected to hammer Mr Biden on the border and blame him for the death of 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley last month.
An immigrant from Venezuela who entered the US illegally has been arrested and charged with her murder.
He hosted Ms Riley’s family at his rally in Rome, Ms Greene’s home town.
“What Joe Biden has done on our border is a crime against humanity,” Mr Trump was set to say.
Ahead of his rally, Mr Biden expressed regret for using the term “illegal” during his State of the Union address to describe Ms Riley’s suspected killer, drawing more criticism from Mr Trump’s team.
Mr Trump’s rally opened with a message asking attendees to rise to support the hundreds of people serving jail time for their roles in the January 6 Capitol insurrection, when thousands of pro-Trump supporters tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election by halting the counting of Electoral College votes.
The intensity of the rhetoric presaged a gruelling eight months of campaigning ahead in the state.
“We’re a true battleground state now,” said US Representative Nikema Williams, an Atlanta Democrat who doubles as state party chairwoman.
Once a Republican stronghold, Georgia is now so competitive that neither party can agree on how to describe today’s divide.
A “52-48 state”, said Republican governor Brian Kemp, whose party controls state government.
“We’re not blue, we’re not red,” Ms Williams countered, but “periwinkle”, a claim she supports with Mr Biden’s 2020 win and the two Democratic senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Georgia, sent to Washington.
