Obama calls Trump 'wannabe king' at Harris event

“That's not what you need in your life," he said.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Ivan Pereira, Tal Axelrod, and David Brennan
Last Updated: October 25, 2024, 6:37 AM EDT

The race for the White House is heading into the final stretch with most polls showing Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump neck-and-neck in key states with less than two weeks to go.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing:
Oct 25, 6:54 am

More than 31 million Americans have voted early

As of Friday morning, more than 31 million Americans cast an absentee ballot or voted early in person, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.

Roughly 13.7 million people voted early in person, the lab reported, and more than 17.7 million returned their ballot by mail.

A man votes on the second day of early voting in Wisconsin at the American Serb Hall Banquet in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 23, 2024.
Vincent Alban/Reuters

Oct 23, 2024, 3:44 PM EDT

Biden agrees with Kelly's characterization of Trump as a fascist, press secretary says

The White House said that President Joe Biden agrees with former Trump chief of staff John Kelly's characterization of Trump as a "fascist" when pressed by reporters during Wednesday's daily briefing.

"You've heard from the former president himself saying that he is going to be a dictator on day one. This is him, not us. This is him," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

She added, "This is not just us, the White House saying this, you heard it from officials, former officials that worked for the former president, say this as well. So, you know, do we agree -- I know that the vice president just spoke about this. Do we agree about that determination? Yes, we do. We do."

When asked whether Jean-Pierre was saying that Biden himself believes that Trump is a fascist, she also responded "Yes."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Oct 23, 2024, 3:04 PM EDT

Harris to give closing speech on National Mall next week: Sources

Harris will deliver a speech on the National Mall in Washington next Tuesday, one week before Election Day, two people familiar with the planning confirmed to ABC News.

The Washington Post first reported the plans.

Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks before departing the vice president's residence in Washington, DC, Oct. 23, 2024.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Harris campaign has been granted a permit for this event, which it listed as a "First Amendment Activity: Political Speech" in the application with the National Park Service.

The application shows that the campaign requested to move the location of the speech to the Ellipse.

The application requests an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. window on Oct. 29th, and estimates that roughly 7,500 people will attend along with 250 staff and volunteers. Organizers added that the speaking program will "consist of 4 to 5 individuals & elected officials."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart, Will McDuffie, Gabrielle Abdul-Hakim and Fritz Farrow

Oct 23, 2024, 3:00 PM EDT

Georgia voter roll audit finds only 20 noncitizens out of 8 million registered voters

A comprehensive audit of Georgia's voter rolls found that just 20 noncitizens were registered to vote on a registration list of over 8 million, according to an announcement Wednesday from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

A sign sits outside of a polling location as the battleground state opened for early voting, in Atlanta, Georgia, October 23, 2024.
Hannah Mckay/Reuters

All 20 of those registrations have been canceled and referred to the authorities for investigation and potential prosecution, Raffensperger said.

An additional 156 registrations were flagged for a "human investigation" that is now underway.

The result of the audit stands in stark contrast to claims being pushed by some Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, that large numbers of noncitizens are going to vote in the 2024 election.

Read more here from ABC News' Olivia Rubin.

Oct 23, 2024, 2:55 PM EDT

JD Vance contends 'joy is gone' from Harris campaign

"The big theme of the first month of their campaign was that they were the joyful campaign," Trump's running mate Sen. JD Vance said of Harris' campaign as he stumped in battleground Nevada. "And my friends, the joy is gone. The joy is gone from the Kamala Harris campaign."

During his remarks in the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Vance said Harris was scolding Trump supporters.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nev., Oct. 23, 2024.
John Locher/AP

"She was like, how can you dare have a sense of humor about American politics? It's one of the things I love about my running mate is he does have a sense of humor. You can fix the country but have a good time while you're going around and campaigning across the United States, right?" Vance said.

Harris has recently revived one of President Joe Biden's key campaign attacks: that Trump represents a threat to democracy.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie