In the battle of the pugilists vs pragmatists, Joe Biden is spoiling for a fight.

President Trump and Biden are top contenders in their respective presidential nominee races and are both giving speeches in Iowa tonight.

Despite hosting speeches in the same state, they will not come within 100 miles of each other, but have already been exchanging blows.

Of all the Democratic hopefuls, the septuagenarian former vice-president is going after President Trump with the most vigour – calling him unfit for office.

And Trump isn’t pulling any punches either, brandishing Biden “mentally weak” and a “loser” and adding: “I call him one per cent Joe.”

The key argument of Biden’s campaign is that he is the best candidate to take on Trump – and now he has to prove it.

We may be eight months from the caucuses but their battle for headlines in Iowa is important.

The tiny Hawkeye state is important, of course, because it is the first state where an election ballot is cast.

It gives a strong indication of whether a candidate’s support is holding up.

As Trump likes to remind everyone, he won Iowa in 2016 – largely with the support of its farmers.

Trump will want to quash the support that Biden is pitching for from the soy and pork farmers who are suffering during the president’s trade war with China.

Biden is on a two-day trip to the state, and in his keynote speech he hammered Trump on everything from his character to healthcare, trade and climate change.

Trump will likely swipe back when he speaks at a Republican Party fundraiser.

The president has signalled anxiety about Biden.

He knows he also poses a threat to his support from union voters – a crucial group for Trump’s bid for a second term.

Biden is pitching hard to blue collar workers across states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that were crucial to Trump’s victory.

Trump also knows that Biden has what most other Democratic contenders do not – name recognition and a record. 36 years as a US senator. Eight as Barack Obama’s vice-president.

But history can be a heavy burden.

Biden has recently been accused of flip-flopping on abortion issues and he has been dogged by the 1994 crime bill which he helped write.

It is widely seen as the reason for America’s mass incarceration.

The pressure is on for Biden to come up with fresh bold policy ideas.

He’ll need more than his name to sustain him through a long and brutal election campaign.

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