Election 2020: Melania Trump delivers pointed political attack on trail

She took aim at Democrats on issues from the pandemic to impeachment.

With one week until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, nearly 65 million have voted early so far -- a record.

The president continues an aggressive, defensive campaign as polls show him trailing nationally and in several battleground states key to his reelection hopes. He holds rallies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Vice President Mike Pence is in the Carolinas.

Biden is on offense, spending the day in Georgia to deliver a "closing argument" on national unity. While some Democrats argue the usually red state's electoral votes are in play, others warn against losing focus on key swing states like Wisconsin. His running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is in Nevada.


Forecast who wins the race

Pick who wins the presidential race using the ABC News interactive election map and see the latest FiveThirtyEight forecasts, ABC News race ratings and user picks.


Latino voters in Florida, Arizona and Texas could decide election

"This year, it's Latino voters in Florida, Arizona and Texas that experts say could decide the election," ABC News correspondent John Quiñones reports.

Quiñones speaks with former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Ana Navarro-Cárdenas and voters about the Latino vote in the upcoming election as part of "America’s Future: The Power of the Latino Vote,” on ABC News Live.


The power of the Latino vote

ABC News Senior White White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega reports on the uncertainty faced by DREAMers under the Trump administration as part of “America’s Future: The Power of the Latino Vote” on ABC News Live

"Their futures may depend on the outcome of this presidential election."



Trump campaign website 'attacked'

The Trump campaign confirmed that its website was compromised, but has since been restored.

“Earlier this evening, the Trump campaign website was defaced and we are working with law enforcement authorities to investigate the source of the attack," communications director Tim Murtaugh said.

The campaign said it is working with law enforcement to investigate the "source of the attack," adding that there was no exposure to sensitive data, given it's not stored on their site.

-ABC News' Will Steakin


Melania Trump bashes Democrats in most political speech to date

In her first solo campaign event of 2020, first lady Melania Trump delivered her most political speech to date in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, blasting Democrats for attempting to divide the country, she said, and defending the administration for choosing to move forward -- “not backward”-- in its pandemic response.

Deeming her husband a “fighter,” the first lady began her prepared remarks by defending his social media use and applauding how Americans can hear “directly and instantly” from their president "for the first time in history."

“I don’t always agree the way he says things, but it is important to him that he speaks directly to the people he serves,” she said to an enthusiastic crowd of 300 supporters packed in a barn in Atglen.


Echoing her husband, she then ripped into Democrats, saying they are invoking fear and attempting to divide Americans amid the pandemic that has claimed more than 225,000 Americans lives.

She went on to slam Democrats for what she called a “sham impeachment” while she said Trump took “decisive actions” to slow the spread of the pandemic.

“This sham was led by opposition and their display of hatred is on display to this day,” she said to roaring applause. 

Urging Pennsylvanians to get out the vote, she painted Democrats as a looming threat to "traditional values," while pitching her husband as the anti-politician candidate who will keep American families safe.

Although the first lady herself did not model Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines by wearing a mask, she did in closing ask the audience to follow the CDC guidelines to slow the spread. Most attendees were wearing masks -- which were encouraged but not required, according to release on the event -- and had been asked on the loudspeaker to socially distance. However, the crowd bunched up around the stage for the first lady’s remarks.


Former senior counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, who left the administration in August, introduced the first lady for her appearance -- as she did in 2016 when Melania made a campaign stop in the state and Conway was Trump’s campaign manager.