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, 7:51 PM EDT

Harris pitches herself as a 'pragmatic capitalist' to Latino voters

Less than two weeks from Election Day, Harris sat down with Telemundo’s Julio Vaqueiro for an interview that touched on how her economic plan will affect Latino voters, immigration, how she would politically label herself and which team she’s rooting for in the World Series.

Harris pitched herself as a "pragmatic capitalist."

"I believe that we need a new generation of leadership in America that actively works with the private sector to build up the new industries of America, to build up small business owners, to allow us to increase home ownership, to allow people and their families to build intergenerational wealth. I believe in supporting workers," she said.

Harris emphasized how important the Latino vote is in the election while, despite recent polling and disagreed with the idea that Trump was making gains with Latino voters.

"I talk with Latino voters every day, all the time, and there is an incredible amount of support there, because Latino voters understand that they want a president of the United States who treats all people with dignity, with respect, and invests in their dreams for themselves and their family," she said.

Harris reiterated to Telemundo her belief that the U.S. needs an immigration policy that includes a pathway to citizenship

"We need smart, humane immigration policy in America that includes a pathway to citizenship, putting more resources at the border in terms of security, honoring America's history as a country of immigrants, not vilifying people who are fleeing harm, but instead, creating an orderly system for them to actually be able to make their case. That's where I stand. I stand on the principle that we should not be talking about immigrants as ‘poisoning the blood of America,'" she said referring to Trump's rhetoric.

On a lighter note, when asked who she supports in this year's World Series, Harris backed her husband's team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I'm there with him," she said. "He was very excited about this."

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie

Oct 23, 2024, 6:36 PM EDT

Trump calls Kelly 'lowlife,' denies stories

Trump lashed out Wednesday at John Kelly following his former chief of staff's accounts that Trump praised Adolph Hitler and denigrated soldiers and veterans.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump claims Kelly, who he labeled a "degenerate" and "tough and dumb," "made up a story out of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome Hatred!"

"The story about the Soldiers was A LIE, as are numerous other stories he told. Even though I shouldn’t be wasting my time with him, I always feel it’s necessary to hit back in pursuit of THE TRUTH. John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to MOVE ON!" Trump said.

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

Oct 23, 2024, 6:29 PM EDT

PA voters who submitted 'naked ballots' allowed to vote provisionally: Court

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that voters in the swing state must be allowed to cast a provisional ballot at their polling place if their mail-in ballot was previously rejected because it was not placed in a so-called "secrecy envelope."

The case stems from two voters in Butler County whose mail-in-ballots were rejected after they were sent in without the required secrecy envelope, creating what is known as a "naked ballot." They later submitted provisional ballots, but they were not counted, leading to the lawsuit.

In its ruling, the court said Butler County "erred" when it rejected those provisional ballots to be uncounted and affirmed the lower courts ruling directing them to be counted.

"The General Assembly wrote the Election Code with the purpose of enabling citizens to exercise their right to vote, not for the purpose of creating obstacles to voting," the opinion said.

The ruling is a loss for the Republican National Committee, which was looking to have the lower court's ruling overturned and have those voters' provisional ballots remain uncounted. It is one of the multiple cases around the country the RNC is involved in, litigating over which ballots should count during the 2024 election.

The court seemed to reprimand the RNC repeatedly in its order, including for "engaging in wordplay to confuse the Code and reach an absurd result" where provisional ballots of these voters should not be counted.

The order also rebuked the RNC's claims that "election integrity" calls for the votes to not be counted stating, "[W]e are at a loss to identify what honest voting principle is violated by recognizing the validity of one ballot cast by one voter."

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin

Oct 23, 2024, 6:00 PM EDT

Harris campaign confirms 'closing argument' on the National Mall

The Harris campaign confirmed reports Wednesday that the vice president will deliver a major "closing argument" address at the Ellipse on the National Mall on Tuesday, a week before Election Day.

The location is the same location where Trump held his rally on Jan. 6 before his supporters stormed the Capitol.

Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks at a campaign rally encouraging early voting in Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 19, 2024.
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Harris will provide a contrast between a first Harris term and a second Trump term by pointing to the future as a way to move past Trump and pursue a new way forward, according to a senior Harris campaign official.

The campaign believes that this symbolic location will help crystallize the choice for the American people in the election -- providing an opportunity for Harris to stress that the U.S. does not have to be defined as a nation by Trump’s chaos and division.

Campaign advisers say Harris will approach this moment like the former prosecutor she is: she has given her opening argument, laid out all the evidence, and now plans to take her closing argument directly to the “jury” -- the American people who will decide the outcome of this election, the official said.

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie