President Donald Trump launched an eight-state campaign blitz on Wednesday, seeking to shore up Senate Republicans and GOP gubernatorial candidates against an onslaught of Democratic surrogates, including entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey.
Trump will crisscross the nation, landing him in Senate battlefields such as Indiana, Missouri and Florida along with nail-biter contests for governor in Georgia and Ohio.
Winfrey, who offered crucial support to President Barack Obama during his 2008 rise, will campaign Thursday for Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who is attempting to become the nation's first black female governor.
Obama plans to campaign Friday for Abrams in Atlanta and in Miami to boost Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, who is running for governor. On Sunday, the former president will be in Gary, Indiana, for Sen. Joe Donnelly, who is among the most endangered Senate Democrats, and in his hometown of Chicago for J.B. Pritzker, who is the favorite in Illinois' race for governor.
Democrats are defending several Senate incumbents in Republican-leaning states in their quest to narrow the GOP's 51-49 majority. The terrain is more favourable in the House, where Democrats need a net pickup of 23 seats to recapture the majority, and in several states with vulnerable Republican governors.
Trump slammed outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis, tweeting that Ryan "should be focusing on holding the Majority" instead of weighing in on the president's push to end the Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship.
Trump tweeted that Ryan shouldn't offer "his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about!"
Ryan, who is retiring, said Tuesday that Trump couldn't "end birthright citizenship with an executive order."
Vice President Mike Pence said during a stop in Ohio that the caravan of Central Americans walking toward the U.S. southern border represents "an assault on our country" and Republicans are "determined to end this crisis of illegal immigration once and for all."
Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted said he wouldn't fight the order, aiming to avoid "an unnecessary source of contention with election only five days away."
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi declared late Tuesday that Democrats will win the House majority, predicting a "great night for America."
Pelosi said in an interview with Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show" that "up until today, I would have said, 'If the election were held today, we would win.'"
Asked what had changed, Pelosi said, "What now I'm saying is we will win. We will win. We will win."
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