Barron Trump had COVID, Melania 'glad' they went through it together: 2020 election live updates

First lady Melania Trump said Wednesday that after an initial negative test, 14-year-old Barron Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

"My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive," she said. "Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms. In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together. He has since tested negative."

Barron is the most recently revealed positive result stemming from the White House.

Meanwhile, since the town hall debate in Miami was canceled after President Donald Trump refused to participate virtually – Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will take part in dueling solo town halls Thursday evening.

NBC News announced Wednesday it will host a town hall with Trump in Miami. Biden had already scheduled an ABC News town hall.

☕ The latest:

• Barrett hearing: Missed the 11 hours of questions at Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing Tuesday? Here are our takeaways.

• Pelosi-Blitzer: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and CNN's Wolf Blitzer had a testy exchange Tuesday with Pelosi calling Blitzer an "apologist" for Republicans while discussing the COVID-19 stimulus talks.

• Where are the candidates today?: President Donald Trump holds a rally in Des Moines, Iowa; Vice President Mike Pence stumps in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Democratic nominee Joe Biden takes part in a virtual fundraiser while his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, attends the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearing.

📆 20 days until Election Day, eight days until the final presidential debate, 98 days until Inauguration Day, 80 days left in 2020.

🗳️ Voting: See USA TODAY's Voter Guide for information on registering to vote, when your state begins voting and what the candidates think about the issues.

We will update this article throughout the day. You can follow all of USA TODAY's politics reporters on Twitter or subscribe to our daily On Politics newsletter.

Trump pitches rural voters at Iowa campaign rally

DES MOINES – Facing tightening polls with less than three weeks before Election Day, President Donald Trump sought to appeal to rural voters at a campaign rally in Iowa, a state he won handily just four years ago.

"You're a big state to me," Trump told thousands of supporters at Des Moines International Airport. "You have tremendous influence and tremendous power and you've never let me down."

The president appeared at his third rally in as many days more than a week after he was hospitalized for COVID-19. Trump is looking to close the gap with Biden, who has consistently maintained an edge over the president in national polls and in some key battleground states.

The pair remain locked in a dead heat in Iowa but the former vice president leads Trump by 6 points in Michigan and Nevada, according to a CBS/YouGov poll taken between Oct. 6-9.

Trump disputed polls showing him tied or behind Biden, insisting that his campaign has "more enthusiasm now than we ever did four years ago."

— John Fritze, Courtney Subramanian

Barrett: No one is above the law

On Capitol Hill, Amy Coney Barrett answered senators' questions for 11 hours on Tuesday — and is doing the same Wednesday during the third day of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trump's Supreme Court nominee sidestepped questions on abortion and voting rights and stressed she would be an impartial justice, not someone who would do the political bidding of conservatives.

There were also personal moments, like when she explained how she knows a little French and plays the piano, and when she held up her blank notepad, inspiring Internet memes. She also explained how she wept with her 17-year-old daughter after the killing of George Floyd.

Barrett agreed under oath that no one person is above the law, even President Donald Trump.

Under questioning from Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, the federal appeals court judge took a similar stance as other justices on the Supreme Court that Trump is not above the law.

"Would you agree, first, that nobody is above the law. Not the president, not you, not me. Is that correct?" Leahy asked virtually over video conference.

"I agree, no one is above the law," Barrett stated.

She declined to weigh in when asked by Leahy about whether the president has the "absolute right to pardon himself for a crime."

Barrett explained that the question had never come before her in a court and "it's one that calls for legal analysis of what the scope of the pardon power is" and she would need to go through "the judicial process to decide it."

Leahy, unsatisfied by her explanation, said he found the two back-to-back answers "somewhat incompatible."

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored an opinion earlier this year on his and Neil Gorsuch's behalf in which he made clear that Trump is not immune from the law. The case dealt with the president's tax returns, with the high court ruling that Trump could not block prosecutors from gaining access to his financials.

– Christal Hayes

Bruce Ohr leaves DOJ

Bruce Ohr, a former associate deputy attorney general, retired from the Justice Department after learning that a decision was near in an internal disciplinary review he faced.

Late last year, Justice's inspector general, in a withering account of the government's handling of the Russia inquiry, singled out Ohr for his extensive contacts with Christopher Steele, the author of a now-infamous dossier alleging salacious conduct involving Trump in Russia.

- Kevin Johnson

COVID stimulus update: Mnuchin says deal before election would be 'difficult'

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that passing another COVID-19 stimulus package before the election would be “difficult.”

"I’d say at this point getting something done before the election and executing on that would be difficult, just given where we are,” he said at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

The Republican-controlled Senate is set to act on a roughly $500 billion stimulus proposal next week, an amount rejected by congressional Democrats as insufficient to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The last White House offer of about $1.8 trillion was also rejected by House Democrats, who have held fast to their $2.2 trillion proposal.

Mnuchin met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as part of ongoing stimulus negotiations Wednesday. The two will meet again Thursday.

– Nicholas Wu

COVID stimulus: Mnuchin says passing more COVID-19 stimulus before the election would be ‘difficult’ as negotiations continue

Michigan congressman tests positive for COVID ahead of meeting with Pence

Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., announced he tested positive for COVID-19 using a rapid test on Wednesday, ahead of a scheduled appearance with Vice President Mike Pence.

“Earlier today, I was expected to appear with the Vice President. While taking part in offsite testing protocols, I took a rapid test that came back positive for COVID-19. I am awaiting the results of a PCR test and I am self isolating until I have confirmed results,” Huizenga tweeted.

The congressman was set to appear at a Trump campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michig, Wednesday morning where Pence spoke. Pence walked to the stage wearing a face mask, and removed it before speaking at the rally, which was held at Lacks Enterprises.

Huizenga’s rapid test comes ahead of President Donald Trump’s scheduled rally in his district on Saturday. Trump, who tested positive for the virus just under two weeks ago and has since returned to public events, will appear in Muskegon, Michigan.

– Jeanine Santucci

Trump and Biden will hold dueling town halls Thursday instead of a debate

President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden won't be debating Thursday, but will instead headline competing town halls on different television networks.

With a hole in the campaign schedule, NBC announced Wednesday it will stage a town hall with President Donald Trump at 8 p.m. EDT Thursday in Miami, which was supposed to have been the site of the debate.

It will compete with Biden's previously announced town hall over on ABC.

In Miami, Trump will meet with "a group of Florida voters on critical issues impacting their vote less than three weeks before Election Day," NBC said in announcing the event.

The network added that, two weeks after Trump tested positive for COVID-19, "the event will take place outdoors at the Pérez Art Museum Miami in accordance with guidelines set forth by health officials and consistent with all government regulations."

Trump, moderator Savannah Guthrie, and the crowd will be socially distanced.

The Commission on Presidential Debates, given the threat of contagion after Trump's diagnosis, called for a virtual debate by video. Trump refused to participate, and the parties were unable to agree on an alternate format.

– David Jackson

Texas sets voter registration record, adds 1.8 million voters since 2016

A record 16.9 million Texans are registered to vote in the Nov. 3 election, according to new data from the Texas secretary of state’s office Monday.

It’s an increase of about 1.8 million voters since the 2016 presidential election, when 15.1 million, or about 78% of the state’s voting-age population, registered to vote.

The latest figure, released Monday, also accounted for roughly 78% of the state’s eligible voters, although it’s not the final statewide registration number ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The official count is expected in the coming days, according to secretary of state officials.

Texas Democratic Party officials say there are promising signs that Texas could elect the first Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976, pointing to an analysis Tuesday from TargetSmart, a Democratic data firm, which found that 60% of new registered voters are under the age of 25 or people of color.

– Nicole Cobler (Austin American-Statesman)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2020 election updates: Barron Trump had COVID-19; town halls Thursday