Trump, Biden furiously trade barbs while overlapping in Iowa

US President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden spent Tuesday trading insults sometimes in real-time as they stumped across Iowa in split screen moments that could preview a ferocious fight ahead if the two men face off for the presidency next year.

Biden is atop the massive Democratic presidential field only because of his frequent attacks on Trump, the president said. He also more explicitly linked Biden to his 2016 foe, Hillary Clinton.

"People don't respect him," Trump said after touring a renewable energy facility in Council Bluffs. "Even the people that he's running against, they're saying 'Where is he? What happened'?"
With a dose of exaggeration, he added: "He makes his stance in Iowa once every two weeks and then he mentions my name 74 times in one speech. I don't know. That reminds me of crooked Hillary. She did the same thing."
"I guess he's really fascinated by me," said Biden, who mentioned Trump by name about a dozen times during his first two events in Iowa. "I find it fascinating."
"I'd rather run against Biden than anybody," Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. "I think he's the weakest mentally and I like running against people that are weak mentally."
"I hope his presence here will be a clarifying event because Iowa farmers have been crushed by his tariffs toward China," Biden said. "It's really easy to be tough when someone else absorbs the pain, farmers and manufacturers."