Democrats make case for Biden as Trump zeroes in on Republican nomination: Live

A number of prominent Democrats have begun stepping up to make the positive case for Joe Biden’s re-election in November after Donald Trump took another step towards securing the Republican presidential nomination on Saturday night when he picked up a fourth-straight primary win in South Carolina, with rival Nikki Haley unable to make an impact even on her own turf.

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, California governor Gavin Newsom, widely tipped as a future Democratic presidential candidate himself, said of President Biden, “I revere his record… It’s because of his age that he’s been so successful,” batting aside concerns about the incumbent’s advanced years, as well as a question about his own belated candidacy.

On CNN’s State of the Union, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer told viewers: “It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote that’s not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term.”

Meanwhile on MSNBC, President Biden’s former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, now a media pundit, warned that her old boss was the only person standing between the Oval Office and a candidate who “echoes Hitler and idolises Putin”.