'Sweet' or bittersweet? Biden votes in US election

Joe Biden is no longer in line for another term as US president -- but he waited patiently in line on Monday to cast his early ballot in a close race between his chosen successor Kamala Harris and former rival Donald Trump.

The 81-year-old, who stunned the world when he dropped out of the race in July and endorsed vice president Harris as the Democratic nominee, voted at a polling centre in New Castle, on the outskirts of his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

Asked afterwards if it had been a bittersweet moment to vote in an election he once hoped to win, Biden told reporters: "This is sweet."

Wearing sunglasses and a dark suit, America's outgoing commander-in-chief waited in line for some 30 minutes, passing the time by chatting with other voters, speaking on the phone, and helping to push a wheelchair-using voter.

When it was his turn, Biden signed his name with a finger, was given his ballot paper and then directed to a black-curtained booth to cast his vote, with only his legs visible.

With just a week until Election Day on November 5, more than 41 million Americans -- a huge chunk of an estimated total voting age population of 262 million -- have cast early ballots.

Afterwards, Biden lashed out at Trump over the Republican former president's New York rally where a series of speakers made racist comments.

"It's embarrassing. Beneath a president," Biden told reporters.

Trump fumed over the Democratic switch-up from the aging Biden to a much younger, female candidate, falsely claiming that Biden was the victim of a "coup."