In a combative speech full of insults, Trump mocks Biden’s stutter and slanders migrants and others.

Early in his remarks at what was essentially his first campaign rally of the general election, former President Donald J. Trump on Saturday labeled President Biden’s State of the Union address an “angry, dark, hate-filled tirade” that was more divisive rather than unifying.

Then, in the nearly two hours that followed in Rome, Georgia, Mr. Trump used inflammatory language to stoke fears about immigration and repeated his false claim that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.

The former president, who faces four criminal cases, called the press “criminals.” And he mocked President Biden’s stutter and revived a litany of grievances against political opponents, prosecutors and television executives.

Mr Trump told thousands of his supporters gathered at the rally that “everything Joe Biden touches” turns to dirt, although he used an expletive to describe the outcome. “Everything. I tried to find another word, but there are some words that cannot be duplicated. (He used the word, or a variation of it, at least four times in his speech.)

The former president’s speech in Georgia, a key battleground he narrowly lost in 2020, underscored that Trump is unlikely to temper the ominous and sometimes apocalyptic vision that has animated his campaign even as his last remaining Republican rival has fallen. out and the general election has come into focus.

As he has done in the past, Mr. Trump emphasized that the greatest danger facing the United States is its political opponents, which he called “the threat from within,” a turn inward that has alarmed experts because of its similarity to the language used by totalitarian leaders. .

But in a speech full of regressive rants, Trump reserved some of his most incendiary rhetoric to smear migrants crossing the border illegally. Much of his speech focused on immigration, an issue that he and his advisers have signaled will be key in his efforts to defeat Mr. Biden and return to the White House.

While vowing to expand his crackdown on immigration, Mr. Trump described the continued surge of migrants across the southern border as “the agony of our people, the plundering of our cities, the plundering of our cities, the violation of our citizens and the conquest of immigration.” of our country.”

Mr. Trump also took aim at Mr. Biden’s immigration policies, in part by using the Georgian setting to blame his rival for the death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed in the state last month by : according to authorities, it was a Venezuelan migrant who had entered the country illegally and been released on parole.

Mr. Trump met with Ms. Riley’s parents before taking the stage, and the Trump campaign passed out signs with Ms. Riley’s photo at the meeting. During his speech, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Biden of neglecting the surge of migrants at the border, which he called a “deadly invasion that stole the beautiful American life of precious Laken.”

Mr. Trump often labels those who cross the border illegally as violent criminals. “The migrants are hurting people,” Trump said. “They talk about the beautiful dream of migrants. It sounds so beautiful, you know, like a storybook. But some of these people are monsters.”

Border authorities, including some who worked for Trump, have said most migrants crossing the border are members of families fleeing violence and poverty.

But Ms. Riley’s death has become a flashpoint in the country’s heated debate over immigration policy, in part because it appears to align with Trump’s long-standing belief that violent men from South America are flooding across the border to harm Americans .

“He was an illegal migrant, and he should not have been in our country, and he should never have been under the Trump administration,” Trump said of the man accused of killing Ms. Riley.

Mr. Trump also attacked Mr. Biden for expressing regret for using the word “illegal” to describe the man accused of killing Ms. Riley during an exchange during the State of the Union address on Thursday.

Mr Trump’s speech on Saturday was his first since Mr Biden repeatedly attacked him and his policies in his State of the Union address. “Joe Biden should not be yelling angrily at America,” Trump said. “America should angrily yell at Joe Biden.”

But his criticism veered toward personal insults. At one point, Mr. Trump slurred his words and pretended to stutter, in a mocking imitation of the president, who has dealt with a stutter since childhood.

It was one of several such attacks Trump provoked during the event. About former television host Megyn Kelly, with whom Trump sparred during his first presidential election campaign, he said “may she rest in peace.” While talking about the success his time at “The Apprentice” brought to NBC, he called Jeff Zucker, the network’s former CEO, an “idiot.”

Mr. Trump also denigrated a number of prosecutors and judges involved in the criminal cases and several civil lawsuits in which he was embroiled. He spent a significant amount of time attacking Fani T. Willis, the prosecutor who prosecuted him for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.

Mr. Trump called Ms. Willis “corrupt,” referring to allegations that she benefited financially after developing a relationship with a lawyer she hired for the case. (Ms. Willis has pushed back against these claims, calling them full of “wild and reckless speculation.”)

He also repeated his false claim that he won in Georgia in 2020, insisting he did nothing wrong as he called out state election officials, insisting he won Georgia and asking Georgia’s foreign minister to “find” the votes ‘ he needed to win. .

“Perfect call,” Mr. Trump said, “except for the fact that we questioned the fairness of this election.” These elections were rigged.”

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting from New York.