Photo taken in Arlington, Virginia, the United States on Aug. 20, 2020 shows screens displaying images of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaking in a video feed of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Joe Biden criticized recent violence in U.S. cities, while Donald Trump accused Biden of "blaming the Police far more than he's blaming the Rioters."

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31  -- Democratic 2020 presidential nominee Joe Biden and his Republican rival, sitting President Donald Trump, traded blame on Monday over violence in U.S. cities.

"He's supposed to be protecting this country. But instead he's rooting for chaos and violence," Biden said in a speech from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, referring to Trump. "He can't stop the violence - because for years he has fomented it."

The former U.S. vice president went on to criticize violence in cities like Portland in Oregon, and Kenosha in Wisconsin, which came amid protests against police brutality and racial injustice.

"I want to be clear about this: Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting," Biden stressed. "None of this is protesting - it's lawlessness - plain and simple."

"And those who do it should be prosecuted. Violence will not bring change, only destruction. It's wrong in every way. It divides instead of unites," he added.

Trump, in a tweet, said he has tuned in for Biden's remarks, while accusing him of "blaming the Police far more than he's blaming the Rioters, Anarchists, Agitators, and Looters."