The US President Joe Biden delivered a fiery State of the Union address on Thursday where he repeated swipes at Donald Trump that the broad themes of his re-election campaign.

Biden used the term "my predecessor" to refer to Trump 13 times in a speech that lasted more than an hour.

Biden also covered immigration, abortion, the economy and Gaza.

The atmosphere in the House chamber was raucous at times, with loud cheering from Democrats and heckling from some Republicans.

It was a spectacle more typical of a political convention than a State of the Union address - a constitutionally mandated report that is usually heavy on pageantry and policy.

But this is an election year and the stakes for Mr Biden were high. He was feisty and confrontational as he sought to draw the battle lines for his nascent campaign.

Taking aim at Trump

Unsurprisingly, many of his barbs were aimed at Mr Trump given he is almost certain to be his opponent in November's general election.

"My predecessor failed the most basic duty any president owes the American people - the duty to care," he said in reference to Trump's handling of the Covid pandemic. "That is unforgivable."

He criticised Trump for his recent comments about Russia and Nato, and said that he sought to "bury the truth" about the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

He blamed him for the Supreme Court decision to overturn the Roe v Wade ruling which guaranteed abortion rights and for blocking bipartisan immigration reforms.

Trump, meanwhile, had promised to react in real time to the speech on his Truth Social platform. "Biden is on the run from his record and lying like crazy to try to escape accountability for the horrific devastation he and his party have created," he wrote.

"They continue the very policies that are causing this horror show to go," he said.

Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque