Joe Biden launches $45million TV ad attacking Trump over looting and rioting as he tries to overpower the president's 'law and order' message

Joe Biden has launched a new campaign ad that depicts him as tough on rioters and looters after Donald Trump attacked him as weak on crime and disorder.

The $45million ad, which will run for a week on TV and online, recycles parts of the speech Biden gave in Pittsburgh Monday, denouncing violence 'by the left and right'.

The purchase is by far the largest of the Democrat hopeful's campaign so far, and the first time he has campaigned directly on the issue of law and order.

It also comes after Trump's visit to Kenosha on Tuesday, a city ransacked by rioters, as the president attempted to paint a vision of what 'Biden's America' might look like.

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Joe Biden has spent $45million on a new campaign ad attacking Trump over lawlessness in America and painting himself as tough on rioters and looters 

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The ad was revealed just a day after Trump visited Kenosha, a city that was gutted by rioting, in an attempt to paint a vision of 'Biden's America'

Speaking over images of damage in the city, Biden can be heard saying: 'I want to make it absolutely clear: Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting.

'It's lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted.'

Then, over images of violent right-wing rallies including the infamous Unite the Right march in Virginia, Biden adds: 'Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames. 

'He can't stop the violence, because for years he's fomented it. But his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows how weak he is.

'Violence will not bring change, it will only bring destruction. It's wrong in every way.'

He concludes the video by trumpeting his religious credentials - as a lifelong Catholic he quotes Pope John Paul II, saying: 'Be not afraid.'

The ad will air nationally on cable networks and locally in battleground states including Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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Biden's new ad, which features images of the damage in Kenosha, is the largest spend of his campaign so far and the first time that he has campaigned directly on law and order

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It comes as nationwide polls showed Biden with a lead of up to ten points over Trump, even after the Republican National Convention which typically gives candidates a poll boost

The huge spend - which eclipses the total amount Biden spent on all campaigning during the primaries - comes after a record-breaking round of campaign fundraising.

While the exact figure is not yet known, the New York Times reports that he raised $300million in August, which would be a Democratic Party record.

In response to the original Pittsburgh speech which pinned blame for city violence on Donald Trump, Trump Jr accused 'Biden voters' of causing the damage.

Trump Jr said Biden sat in silence for ten days in 'tactic acceptance' of the unrest, and only decided to denounce it when polling showed it was hurting his campaign.

He also claimed that Obama escaped blame for riots in Ferguson and Orlando during his presidency, and accused Trump's critics of having a 'double-standard'. 

Asked to respond to Biden's comments, Trump Jr said: 'No-one said that about Obama when you had the Ferguson riots, or Orlando, or the numerous riots there. 

'The reality is that Joe Biden said almost nothing about these things. He sat there. 

'There must be tacit [sic] acceptance because these are Biden voters, these are Democrat voters, that are out there doing this.'