Donald Trump has branded Joe Biden an "enemy of the state" as he hit back at the US president's assertion that the former leader and his supporters are undermining American democracy.
Making his first public appearance since the August 8 FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago home, Mr Trump told a rally of supporters at Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania that the search was a "travesty of justice".
He warned it would produce "a backlash the likes of which nobody has ever seen".
Mr Trump's comments came in the wake of a scathing speech this week by president Joe Biden, who said his predecessor and Republican supporters "represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic."
Speaking in Philadelphia — the cradle of US democracy — Mr Biden launched an extraordinary attack on those Republicans who embrace Mr Trump's "Make America Great Again" ideology, urging his own supporters to fight back in what he billed as a "battle for the Soul of the Nation."
Mr Trump slammed it as the "most vicious, hateful and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president".
"He's an enemy of the state. You want to know the truth. The enemy of the state is him," Mr Trump said.
"There can be no more vivid example of the very real threats from American freedom than just a few weeks ago, you saw, when we witnessed one of the most shocking abuses of power by any administration in American history," Mr Trump said.
But there are long-standing protocols by which the Justice Department and the FBI act independently of the White House and without presidential intervention.
His comments come as speculation intensifies about Mr Trump announcing his intentions to run for president in 2024, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
But Mr Trump's political ambitions could be derailed by a series of criminal and civil litigations against him, including the legal jeopardy he faces after being caught in possession of sensitive government documents at his Florida home.
Donald Trump's digital bullhorn
Mr Trump's fiery speech has been backed up with similar comments on his Truth Social platform, which he had promised supporters would offer a home for free speech.
It has become a digital hotbed of conspiracy and extremism, with memes and posts proliferating in the wake of last month's FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.
But, Mr Trump's digital bullhorn may be far less politically relevant than his past pronouncements on Twitter and Facebook, according to US analysts.
"His reach is much smaller," says Mike Rothschild, the author of a book on the QAnon conspiracy theory.
"Truth Social is pretty much MAGA-only territory."
Truth Social launched in February 2022 as Mr Trump's response to his ban from Twitter, as well as his two-year suspension from Facebook, following the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
But Mr Trump has just four million followers on Truth Social — a far cry from the 88.8 million he had on Twitter, or the 35.4 million he had on Facebook.
However, Mr Trump's Truth Social posts are regularly promoted on other platforms popular with his supporters, such as Telegram and the far-right forum "The Donald," as well as on mainstream sites. Major Republican Party players also repeat his talking points.
But an August 30 posting spree from the former president indicates a lurch toward the darkest corners of conspiracy theories, almost two years after losing the presidency to Joe Biden.
Mr Trump re-posted images that put the words "your enemy is not in Russia" over the faces of top Democrats, including Mr Biden.
The former president also shared a meme referencing "the storm," a mass unsealing of indictments promised in QAnon lore that would culminate in his return to the White House.
Mr Trump interacted with the meme that was shared in reply to a post highlighting the writings of "Q," the anonymous persona whose posts on fringe forums gave rise to QAnon, and its baseless claims about a cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles, including former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
"Trump has certainly amplified Q content before. He had retweeted Q believers or memes over 300 times on Twitter," Mr Rothschild said.
"But he had never shared something directly connected to a Q drop before."
'More easily incited to violence'
The flurry of Truth Social posts may lend a glimpse into what Mr Trump's potential 2024 campaign could look like as the November 8 midterm elections approach.
"Trump's most ardent supporters will follow him wherever he goes," said Caroline Orr Bueno, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Maryland.
"So although his messages may be reaching a smaller audience, those who are still following him are likely a more hardcore group of supporters who may be more easily incited to violence."
NewsGuard, a service that tracks online misinformation, found 88 QAnon-promoting accounts with over 10,000 followers on Truth Social, including 32 that were previously booted off Twitter. Forty-seven of those accounts were verified by the platform.
At least one app provider seems to have taken note. Google has not approved Truth Social for its store used by Android smartphone users, citing problems with content moderation.
"It appears to attract people with extremist views and then provides a safe haven where they can feed off each other without worrying about being reported or banned," Ms Orr Bueno said.
"It's an environment that can be easily exploited by those seeking to incite violence or radicalise people."
Truth Social did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
ABC/AFP
