Trump news – live: Twitter down hours after president threatened lawsuit, while candidates prepare for rival town halls

Donald Trump compared himself to Jesus Christ during his North Carolina campaign rally. During the event, he said a supporter called him the “most famous person in the world”, but the president conceded the title to Jesus Christ.

Donald Trump compared himself to Jesus Christ during his North Carolina campaign rally. During the event, he said a supporter called him the “most famous person in the world”, but the president conceded the title to Jesus Christ.

The campaign rally also included the president threatening to jail people for up to one year if they burn the American flag. The practice is currently protected under the Constitution as symbolic speech, but Mr Trump said he would change that if he were re-elected.

The president has also denied that he is lagging behind Joe Biden in the national polls, telling Fox Business he regards all mainstream media forecasts as “fake” and denying that his latest campaign rallies amount to coronavirus superspreader events, insisting his crowds do wear face masks while falsely claiming the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) doubts their efficacy.

Donald Trump mocks Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris for trying to break glass ceilingNevertheless, the president is losing to Biden by as much as 17 points some surveys and only last night he acknowledged his fears that he could lose Iowa, admitting in Des Moines: "For me to only be up six [in Iowa], I'm a little bit concerned, I'll tell you that."

Watch: Fact-checking Trump and Biden’s duelling town halls