Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of telling "bald-faced lies" about voting by mail to distract from his own failures, after the president suggested it could be cause to delay the election.
Democratic presidential candidate, speaking during a virtual campaign fundraiser, said he believed the US leader would do everything in his power to "argue this election is fraudulent.”
Mr Biden’s remarks were his strongest on the issue since the president said last week that he would not trust results of an election that included widespread mail voting.
"He suggested we should postpone the election, full of just bald-faced lies about how mail-in votes were fraud, and how it was so terrible,” Mr Biden said.
"Well look, he's calling out any effort to exploit this pandemic for political purposes. It distracts from his complete failure," he said.
Mr Trump had suggested the November 3 vote could be postponed, an idea immediately rejected by Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress , which has the authority to make such a change.
The president’s campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said Mr Trump was "rightfully calling attention to the clear fact" that universal mail-in voting creates "nightmare election scenarios".
"Joe Biden and the radical left are fearmongering as they capitalise on the coronavirus crisis in an effort to scare voters into staying home on Election Day," Mr Murtaugh said.
The US is enduring a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 155,000 lives - the most of any country in the world - a crippling recession sparked by the outbreak, and nationwide protests against police violence and racism.
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Without evidence, Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed increased mail voting would be rife with fraud, remarks that have deepened Democrats' fears that he will refuse to accept the election outcome should he lose.
