WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump launched the general election campaign with competing events on Saturday in Georgia, a hotly contested battleground state.

In close proximity, they traded barbs -- Biden portraying Trump as an aspiring dictator, while Trump criticized Biden's handling of the southern border.

Biden's and Trump's concurrent visits to Georgia followed Biden's State of the Union address, where he passionately highlighted differences with Trump, earning praise from Democrats. This occurred shortly after Trump's sole remaining GOP primary rival Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the United Nations, withdrew, paving the way for his nomination.

In Atlanta, Biden highlighted his achievements and warned of threats to democracy if Trump wins in November, stressing their differing value systems.

"Mine is based on core values that have defined America, and the rest of the world looks at us that way. Decency, honesty, fairness and equality," he said. "But we all know Donald Trump sees a different America. An American story of resentment, revenge and retribution. That's not me. That's not you."

Additionally, Biden criticized Trump's positions and policies on issues such as abortion, taxation, and immigration.

The Georgia rally provided Trump with an opportunity to focus on his key issue -- immigration and border security.

Lately, as polls indicate a rising concern among voters, Trump has intensified his campaign stops, using a recent incident involving Laken Riley, a University of Georgia student who was killed last month, to highlight migrant crime and accusing Biden of neglecting US borders by letting dangerous criminals into the country.

In the 2020 election, Biden secured Georgia by around 12,000 votes, and Democratic wins in Senate races contributed to the party's Senate control.

However, current polling indicates a challenging path for Biden in the state, with Trump holding a lead of approximately 7 percentage points in hypothetical head-to-head matchups.

Despite this, the Biden campaign contends that polling might overstate Trump's support and expects more voters to unite against the prospect of a second Trump term as the election approaches.

On Tuesday, several states and territories in the United States held party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. In the Democratic and Republican primaries, Biden and Trump emerged victorious, respectively, further solidifying their leads within their parties.

US media predict that Trump could potentially secure the Republican presidential nomination as early as the 12th of this month, while Biden could clinch the Democratic nomination by the 19th.

On Thursday, Biden delivered his State of the Union address, accusing Trump of undermining American democracy and inaction on issues such as gun violence. Biden didn't explicitly mention Trump and only referred to his rival as his "predecessor."

Trump responded on social media, labeling Biden as a threat to American democracy and characterizing the State of the Union address as "angry, polarizing, and hate-filled."

Multiple polls indicate that a majority of Americans do not want to see a rematch between Biden and Trump.

"I think this is the worst election in my lifetime," said George Argodale, a voter from Gainesville, Virginia. "It's just terrible that we don't have better candidates."

The primaries mark the initial phase of the US presidential election, with the election day scheduled for Nov 5 this year.