WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump might want to be careful about challenging Joe Biden to come out and fight.

For months, he has slammed Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, for staying in the "basement" instead of campaigning.

On Monday, Biden traveled to Pittsburgh, a Democratic hub in a pivotal swing state, to try to turn Trump's fear-based case for re-election on its head. Looking lively and speaking forcefully, he condemned unwarranted police violence, rioting and looting, and militia activity. Then he laid the blame for all of it at Trump's feet.

"The fires are burning," Biden said, "and we have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting them."

And responding to Trump's formulation that no one would be safe in "Biden's America," he said, "These are not images from some imagined 'Joe Biden's America' in the future — these are images from Donald Trump's America today."