Democratic nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump are going head-to-head on the hyper-sensitive issues of civic violence and racial justice in a potentially defining moment for a suddenly electrified battle for the White House.

At a raw moment in modern American political history, the rivals are emerging from conventions that offered starkly different visions of the future, with every day in the campaign increasingly crucial -- as some states prepare to start sending out absentee ballots in the coming weeks.

Biden will make a speech in Pittsburgh on Monday in which he will pose the question: "Are you safe in Donald Trump's America?" The President -- despite pleas from the Wisconsin governor not to do so -- will travel to the violence-wracked city of Kenosha on Tuesday.

The President is painting an inaccurate picture of a nation consumed by street violence as he seeks to repair his standing among White suburban voters. Biden is meanwhile accusing the President of inciting unrest and dividing the country for political gain.