President Donald Trump has hit out at Joe Biden in a tirade in which he said "I don't have to be nice anymore"

It comes as the US president claimed that Democrats were trying to steal the election in a series of rallies. 

Mr Trump defied local authorities by holding a Saturday night rally in tiny Minden after his initial plan to hold one in Reno was stopped out of concern it would have violated coronavirus health guidelines.

Mr Trump claimed the state's Democratic governor tried to block him and repeated his false claim that mail-in ballots would taint the election result.

"This is the guy we are entrusting with millions of ballots, unsolicited ballots, and we're supposed to win these states.

"Who the hell is going to trust him?" Mr Trump said of Governor Steve Sisolak.
"The only way the Democrats can win the election is if they rig it."

As part of his ongoing crusade against mail-in voting, lawyers for the president's reelection campaign are urging a federal judge in Las Vegas to block a state law and prevent mail-in ballots from going to all active Nevada voters less than eight weeks before the election.

Addressing a mostly mask-less crowd tightly packed together, the president declared "I don't have to be nice anymore", focused on tearing into his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.

READ MORE: Donald Trump labels his rallies as 'peaceful protests' as a 'workaround' Covid-19 restrictions

He hit out at Biden saying he did more in 47 months as President than Joe Biden did in 47 years. 

Mr Trump claimed that the Democrat's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, would be president "in about a month" if Mr Biden won, asserting that the former vice president would be but a figurehead and that Ms Harris would hold power.

He claimed that the media would treat Mr Biden "like Winston Churchill" if he was able to merely stand on the debate stage in three weeks.

And embarking on a swing that would also include stops in Las Vegas and Phoenix, Mr Trump mocked Mr Biden's slower travel schedule.

"You know where he is now? He is in his damn basement again!"

And, for good measure, Mr Trump invoked his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, leading the crowd to launch into its traditional "Lock Her Up!" chant.

The president claimed he usually tried to stop the chant but on Saturday declared, "I don't care if you say it anymore" and, breaking yet another norm of the office, suggested that Mrs Clinton "should be in jail."

Mr Trump spoke in front of mountains draped in haze, the scent of smoke in the air from wildfires raging a state away in California.

The president expressed his condolences to the victims but moved on to other matters including a fierce defence of his handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 190,000 Americans and still claims nearly 1,000 lives a day.

And he blamed Democratic governors across Nevada, including Mr Sisolak, for deliberately slowing the pace of reopening their states to hurt his election chances.

State Republicans claimed Mr Sisolak tried to stop the rally, but the decision to cancel the Reno event was made by airport officials.

READ MORE: US election: Poll tracker shows steady Joe Biden lead over Donald Trump

Mr Sisolak has limited in-person gatherings indoors and outdoors to 50 people since May, a recommendation based on White House reopening guidelines.

Several thousand people covered the tarmac in Minden, including Tom Lenz, 64, of Sparks, Nevada, who said he did not vote for Mr Trump last time.

"But I will this time. I think he knows what he's doing," said Mr Lenz.