By LIBBY CATHEY, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — 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.
Biden, meanwhile, 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.
Vice President Mike Pence, head of the coronavirus task force, stays on the campaign trail — in North and South Carolina — despite being exposed to COVID-19. Sen. Kamala Harris is in Nevada Tuesday and former President Barack Obama is in Florida.
First lady Melania Trump is hitting the trail for her husband in Pennsylvania, her first solo event of the 2020 campaign.
Here is how Tuesday is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 27, 10:24 am
As race enters final week, Biden on offense, Trump on defense
Trump is playing defense in the nation’s heartland, hosting rallies today in three states he won in 2016 — Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska — as he struggles to gain ground in 2020 polls.
The president is expected to win the popular vote in Nebraska, but with polls showing Biden having a shot to win a single electoral vote based on the state’s 2nd Congressional District, Trump’s heading there may be a sign of how close his campaign expects the election will be.
Trump’s trip to the Midwest also comes as coronavirus cases there are surging, though Trump insists the country is “rounding the corner beautifully.” Biden has attempted to differentiate his events from Trump’s as more responsible, criticizing Trump to reporters on Monday for holding what Biden called “superspreader events.”
Biden’s trip to Georgia today, a state Trump took by five points in 2016 and once was expected to easily stay Republican, is a sign of his campaign’s confidence in the final days — but some warn not to repeat what happened in 2016 when Hillary Clinton failed to hang on to states Democrats were expected to win.. Former President Barack Obama, Biden’s top campaign surrogate, is in Florida as Democrats aim to take the critical swing state in which Trump cast his vote.
First lady Melania Trump will head to Pennsylvania this afternoon her first solo 2020 campaign event, attempting to appeal to crucial suburban women voters, a demographic which Trump is struggling with this cycle.
Vice President Mike Pence is maintaining his aggressive campaign schedule despite a COVID-19 outbreak in his inner circle. Sen. Kamala Harris, meanwhile, is campaigning in Nevada ahead of a rare trip to Texas on Friday — another sign Democrats are looking to expand the map as Republicans attempt to maintain theirs.
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