Obama calls Trump 'wannabe king' at Harris event

Trump continued to lash out Thursday at former John Kelly, his former chief of staff and a retired Marine Corps general, over his his claims that Trump was a fascist and had an affinity for Adolph Hitler's generals.

While he bashed Kelly with childish insults, Trump didn't respond directly to Harris calling him a fascist despite being given an explicit chance to do so during a call in interview with WABC's Cats&Cosby radio show.

“John Kelly was a stupid person," Trump said. "He had two things. He was tough, but ultimately became a marshmallow. At the end of his time, I fired him, he sat in his office and he was as weak as anybody I've ever seen."

Trump then attacked several high-profile military leaders who have denounced the former president, including former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and retired generals Mark Milley and Jim Mattis.

Later, Trump continued his defamatory rhetoric toward special counsel Jack Smith. As he discussed immigration, alluding to his plan of mass deportations on his first day in office if he's elected, Trump suggested that he should deport Jack Smith, too.

"Jack Smith should be considered mentally deranged, and he should be thrown out of the country," Trump said.
Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, echoed the former president's comments at a rally at Waterford, Michigan, calling Kelly a "disgruntled ex-employee."

Vance questioned Kelly's truthfulness claiming that other Trump staffers had refuted his claims.

"Do we believe multiple eyewitnesses, or do we believe a disgruntled ex-employee?" he asked.

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim

Trump said the Biden-Harris administration's immigration and border policies had made the U.S. a "dumping ground" for other countries during a rally at Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday.

"We're like a garbage can for the world," Trump said. "And every time I come up and talk about what they've done to our country, I get angrier and angrier. [It's the] first time I've ever said 'garbage can.' But you know what? It's a very accurate description."

Trump also said he watched Harris' town hall on CNN Wednesday night, an event Trump declined to attend, and said she was "pathetic."

The former president also criticized President Joe Biden for a gaffe he made telling voters that Trump should be "locked up" before adding "politically."

"He's such a stupid guy. Such a stupid fool," Trump said.

Officials in a Pennsylvania county are warning voters to beware of a fake video circulating on social media purporting to show mail-in-ballots being opened and destroyed ahead of the 2024 election.

"The envelope and materials depicted in this video are clearly not authentic materials belonging to or distributed by the Bucks County Board of Elections," the board said in a bipartisan statement.

The video has been reported to law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Pennsylvania Department of State.

"This type of behavior is meant to sow division and distrust in our election systems, and makes a mockery of the people working incredibly hard to ensure a free and fair election is carried out. The Board of Elections unequivocally condemns this purposeful spreading of dangerous disinformation. We will not be distracted from the job the voters of Bucks County have entrusted to us," the board said.

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin

At least a dozen voters in Mesa County, Colorado, had their ballots stolen and fraudulently filled out without them knowing, Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Thursday.

After the stolen mail-in ballots were returned to the clerk’s office via the Postal Service, the state’s voter signature verification system flagged discrepancies with the signatures on some of the ballots, she said. When election officials reached out to the voters to offer them a chance to “cure” the issue, the voters informed the officials that they hadn’t voted, according to Griswold.

Three of the stolen ballots that passed the signature verification process were successfully cast.

"This attempt at fraud was found and investigated quickly because of all the trailblazing processes and tools Colorado has in place like signature verification, ballot tracking, and the curing process," Griswold added. "Every eligible Colorado voter will be able to make their voice heard this election."

The Mesa County District Attorney's Office is investigating the fraud scheme.

Earlier this month, Tina Peters, the former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder, was sentenced to nine years in prison for leading a security breach of the county's election system.

Peters, a Republican, was convicted for giving an individual affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump ally, access to the election software she used for her county. Screenshots of the software appeared on right-wing websites.

-ABC News' Laura Romero