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.
Top headlines:
- Biden campaign to launch 3-day bus tour in Texas
- Melania Trump bashes Democrats in most political speech to date
- Biden pitches himself as unity candidate in a battle for the ‘soul of the nation’
- Trump departs for 3-state rally tour, Melania to Pennsylvania
- Obama blasts Trump in Orlando, urges Biden supporters to vote 'right now'
Pence holds rally inside air hangar despite COVID-19 outbreak in his orbit
Following his stop in Greensboro, North Carolina, Pence held a campaign rally in Greenville, South Carolina, inside an air hangar packed with at least 2,000 people shoulder-to-shoulder -- just days after at least five people in his inner circle tested positive for COVID-19.
Pence's team said Monday that they'd be prioritizing outdoor events to have Pence go straight from Air Force Two to the stage and not use a motorcade. That wasn't the case for this stop as he rode in a motorcade to the airport location.
As he did with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., earlier, Pence thanked Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who joined him on stage, for his work on the Senate Judiciary Committee and urged supporters to reelect Graham as their senator, calling him a "stalwart, courageous, principled leader" and adding, "I was for Lindsey Graham before it was cool."
"Lindsey Graham's gonna win because of the way he handled the Kavanaugh hearing. And he topped it off yesterday by leading the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett," Pence said, praising the senator for defending Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the wake of sexual assault allegations.
Graham is in one of the most-watched Senate races against Democratic challenger Jamie Harrison.
-ABC News' Justin Gomez
Pence, Harris react to Barrett's confirmation on the trail
The vice president kicked off a three-stop swing through the Carolinas with a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he made a big push for supporters to reelect Sen. Thom Tillis, thanking him for his work on the Senate Judiciary Committee which has confirmed 220 federal judges -- including now three Supreme Court justices -- nominated by Trump.
"Just about 17 hours ago I voted for Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court," Pence said to thundering applause. "We made sure that we fulfilled our promise of putting judges on the court who interpret the Constitution and the law and nothing else."
Pence also slammed Biden for saying he would put together a bipartisan commission of scholars to examine the issue of court reform instead of giving American a clear answer ahead of Election Day on whether he would consider adding more justices to the high court.
"If you're running for the highest office in the land, you ought to tell the American people whether you're going to respect the highest court in the land," Pence said.
The Democratic vice-presidential nominee also addressed Barrett's confirmation to a crowd of socially distanced supporters in Reno, Nevada, after she voted no on Barrett's confirmation from the Senate floor Monday night.
Without mentioning the new justice by name, the California senator repeated her belief that her confirmation process was "illegitimate."
"It has been an illegitimate process from the beginning to push through and cram through a nomination of someone, while the American people are voting," Harris said, adding the majority of Americans favored waiting until after the election before appointing a replacement for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. "And there's so much at stake."
Harris went on to say access to health care, birth control and abortion are all at risk with Barrett's confirmation and urged Nevadans to get out and vote early for the Democratic ticket.
-ABC News' Justin Gomez and Averi Harper
Trump rallies in Michigan, laments COVID-19 coverage as cases rise
At a rally in Lansing, Michigan, Trump pleaded to a packed crowd filled with hundreds of supporters to get out the vote for the Republican ticket and acknowledged his presence in the state signals some concern about his winning reelection.
“Everybody -- look, this is the most important election in the history of our country, ever -- or I wouldn't be standing here like this,” Trump said.
Calling the polls which put him behind “fake,” Trump predicted a “great red wave” in November.
“This Election Day, you must stop the anti-American radicals by delivering Joe Biden and the far Left a thundering defeat,” Trump said.
He also continued to lament media coverage of COVID-19 and suggested it's intended to harm his reelection chances -- as the state of Michigan grapples with record-high numbers of new coronavirus infections and 1,332 hospitalizations as of Monday.
He called Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, a “disaster” who has “got to open up the state.” His criticism comes after authorities revealed earlier this month they thwarted a monthslong plan to allegedly kidnap the Democratic governor before the November election.
At the top of his remarks, Trump claimed he was once named Michigan’s “Man of the Year” -- but there’s no proof any such award exists.
In 2016, Trump won Michigan by the narrowest margin of any state by 10,704 votes.
Biden campaign to launch 3-day bus tour in Texas
Beginning Wednesday, the Biden-Harris campaign will begin a three-day bus tour.
The tour will include appearances by members of the Texas congressional delegation, elected officials, Democratic candidates and special guests, according to a news release.
Wednesday there are stops planed for Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene, Fort Worth and Dallas.