Joe Biden has taken off the gloves in his 2024 election fight, directly confronting likely opponent Donald Trump as a threat to democracy after months of shadowboxing.

The 81-year-old US president said Wednesday that Trump had “certainly supported an insurrection” after Colorado’s top court knocked his rival off the state’s primary ballot, in a rare comment on the Republican’s legal woes.

Until recently, Biden would only call Trump “the other guy” or make the sign of the cross when discussing him, as the veteran Democrat tried to focus on his economic policies.

“He’s like Voldemort now: His name shall not be mentioned,” talk show host Conan O’Brien joked in a recent interview with Biden, comparing Trump to the unnameable villain from the Harry Potter novels.

Keen to avoid fueling Trump’s claims of a political witch hunt, Biden also steadfastly avoided talking about the multiple criminal cases against the former president and reality TV star.

The result was that Trump could land his punches undefended: relentlessly mocking Biden’s age (even though he’s only four years younger) and mental capacity, and falsely accusing Biden of running a crime family.

But as Trump edges ahead in the polls and Democrats call for Biden to land some punches, the incumbent has in recent weeks taken a notably more confrontational approach to his rival.