Joe Biden has secured the Democratic nomination ahead of November’s presidential election, clinching the required delegates with a victory in Georgia on Tuesday night.

As the incumbent president, Mr Biden faced little serious opposition, but he has seen some resistance to his nomination on the campaign trail this year.

The 81-year-old is facing a collapse in support among some groups that traditionally support his party, including Latino voters and young liberals.

The Georgia result put Mr Biden on a total of 1,972 delegates to the Democratic National Convention this August – four more than the number required for a national majority.

The president then won Mississippi, bringing him well clear of the target, and he is expected to pick up further delegates in Washington state and Hawaii later on Tuesday night.

Georgia and Mississippi’s primaries also saw victory for Donald Trump, the sole remaining Republican contender.

Early results suggested Mr Trump had won around 81 per cent of the vote in Georgia and more than 90 per cent in Mississippi, where he won all 40 delegates available.

Despite Nikki Haley’s decision to drop out of the primary after Super Tuesday on March 6, the South Carolina governor won around 16.5 per cent of the vote in Georgia.

The results later on Tuesday night are expected to formally establish both Mr Trump and Mr Biden as the two main parties’ nominees for November’s election.

Before Tuesday’s votes, Mr Trump had 1,089 pledged delegates for the Republican nomination, of the 1,215 required to win. He must win 137 of the 161 delegates available on Tuesday to declare victory.

The primary season has concluded more quickly than usual, due to Mr Trump’s dominance of the Republican race.

Although incumbent presidents usually win the nomination of their party without serious challengers, most opposition parties see a contest between candidates who have not served in the White House.

Mr Trump is the second president in US history in 100 years to be ousted from office and return at a future election, giving him the status of a de-facto incumbent.

Ms Haley was the last of Mr Trump’s rivals to drop out of the race, after Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott suspended their campaigns.

Most Republican candidates have gone on to endorse Mr Trump, although Ms Haley urged her supporters to “always make up your own mind”.

Welcoming the results on Tuesday, Mr Biden’s campaign released a statement from the president emphasising his message that Mr Trump’s campaign is based on “resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America”.

“Voters now have a choice to make about the future of this country,” he said.

“Are we going to stand up and defend our democracy or let others tear it down?

“Will we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms or let extremists take them away?

“Will we finally make the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes – or will we allow corporate greed to run rampant on the backs of the middle class?”

Mr Biden and Mr Trump’s early status as presumptive nominees will increase pressure on the President to debate his predecessor before the scheduled presidential television debates in the autumn.

Mr Trump has already called for an event to be organised and said he would attend even if it was run by the “corrupt” Democratic National Committee.