Obama calls Trump 'wannabe king' at Harris event

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

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.

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, 10:56 AM EDT

Gov. Walz voting today with wife, son

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris' running mate, is casting his ballot Wednesday in the 2024 election.

Walz is voting with his wife Gwen and their son Gus, who is a first-time voter, according to the campaign.

They will vote early for Harris at the top of the ticket, the campaign said. They will also vote for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth term, and Rep. Betty McCollum as well as other Democratic candidates further down the ballot.

Hope, the governor's daughter, has already cast her ballot in Montana, Walz has said. On Sunday during a stop in Saginaw, Michigan, the governor said that Hope, who lives in Bozeman most of the time but is often out campaigning with him, had recently returned to the state to cast a vote for Democratic incumbent Jon Tester in that critical Senate race.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

Oct 23, 2024, 10:21 AM EDT

Harris set for CNN town hall, Trump heads to Georgia

Harris will continue a media blitz with a 7 p.m. interview airing on Telemundo. In excerpts of the taped interview released on Tuesday, Harris outlined how her economic plans would benefit Latino me and discussed the recent election in Venezuela.

At 9 p.m., Harris will do a live CNN town hall in battleground Pennsylvania.

Trump will be in Georgia, another key swing state, where he'll participate in a 3 p.m. “Believers and Ballots Faith Town Hall." Later, he'll be at a Turning Point Action rally in Duluth at 7 p.m.

Oct 23, 2024, 10:17 AM EDT

Trump calls Xi Jinping 'brilliant' and touts relationship with Putin

At his rally in North Carolina on Tuesday night, Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping and remarked on his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump repeatedly called Xi “a brilliant man" who "runs 1.4 billion people with an iron fist."

"He's a fierce man. I got along with him very well," Trump said. "Putin -- these are people that are tough people. Kim Jong Un, North Korea, nuclear weapons all over the place."

The comments came after Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly warned he believed Trump would rule as a dictator if elected to a second term in an interview with The New York Times.

Oct 23, 2024, 9:36 AM EDT

John Kelly says Trump fits definition of a 'fascist'

John Kelly, who served as chief of staff in Trump's administration, described the former president as a "fascist" during an interview with the New York Times.

"Well, looking at the definition of fascism, it's a far right, authoritarian, ultra nationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized hypocrisy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief, natural, social hierarchy," Kelly told the newspaper. "So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks will prove work better in terms of running America."

President Donald Trump and White House chief of staff John Kelly walk toward Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Md., May 4, 2018.
Susan Walsh/AP

Kelly also said he believed Trump would "love" to be a dictator, and that he was comfortable saying Adolf Hitler "did some good things, too." Kelly also claimed Trump referred to veterans who lost limbs as "losers and suckers."

The Trump campaign pushed back in a statement.

"John Kelly has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated because he failed to serve his President well while working as Chief of Staff and currently suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women, whereas Kamala Harris has completely disrespected the families of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including the Abbey Gate 13," said campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.