Trump vows to fire special counsel, as he, Harris runs on swing | 2024 US Election News

President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to fire the special prosecutor investigating him if he wins the election, a major threat as the polls head his way 12 days before the polls.

The Republican candidate and former president made the comments in an interview on Thursday with the conservative broadcaster, saying he would fire special counsel Jack Smith – who has brought two charges against him – “within two seconds”.

Trump's remarks – which he said the campaign of his opponent Kamala Harris is proof that he sees himself as “above the law” – were broadcast before he headed to the states of Arizona and Nevada for campaigning.

“Jack Smith is a scoundrel … He's going to be one of the first things mentioned,” Trump told host Hugh Hewitt.

Smith's lawsuit against Trump centers on his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. If re-elected, Trump would not have the authority to fire the special counsel, but he could order the Justice Department to do so.

Meanwhile, Harris was scheduled to appear with former President Barack Obama and rock star Bruce Springsteen at a rally in the state of Georgia.

Increasingly, Harris' campaign has become a celebrity influencer in headline events and get out the vote.

On Thursday evening, Grammy winner James Taylor will share the stage with Harris' partner, Tim Walz, in North Carolina, another key election state recovering from the effects of a deadly hurricane.

And on Friday night, music superstar Beyonce — whose song, Freedom, has become Harris' signature campaign song — will appear with the vice president at a rally in Houston.

'50-50 prediction'

Campaigning in all the battleground states has intensified as Trump and Harris remain hotly contested in the polls, with Trump showing little gains in recent weeks.

According to 538 polling aggregator, Trump holds a small share in four of the seven US states that may decide the election – North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona. Harris has narrow advantages in two states – Michigan and Wisconsin – while the two candidates are tied in Nevada.

In all seven districts, the difference is less than two percentage points, within the polling margin of error, meaning the districts are a toss-up.

Pollster and founder of 538, Nate Silver, said the data indicates that the chances of Harris and Trump winning are close to 50-50, even if his feeling is that Trump will finish it.

“My gut says Donald Trump,” Silver said in a guest article for the New York Times. “But I don't think you should put any value on anyone's gut – including mine.”

“Instead,” says Silver, “you have to surrender to the fact that a 50-50 prediction really means 50-50. And you have to be open to the fact that those predictions are wrong.”

In a controversial story, James Carville, a longtime Democratic consultant who managed the campaign that won President Bill Clinton in 1992, reached another conclusion, saying he was “certain” that Harris would come out on top.

Writing for the New York Times, Carville pointed to a string of losses in recent Republican elections and Harris' huge fundraising gains as evidence of Harris' impending victory.

Part of his thoughts were “hundreds of emotions”, he admitted.

“I refuse to believe that the same country that always overcomes its mistakes to bend its future to justice will make the same mistake twice,” he wrote.

Early voting is in

As voting has begun in full swing in many US states, nearly 30 million Americans have already voted early, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab.

Preliminary data shows registered Democrats leading Republicans in the first count, though it doesn't show how they voted, and Republicans expect to close the gap on Election Day.

Trump, who has long discouraged early voting, came around to it this year, saying, “The biggest thing for me is, you have to vote.”