Trump will rally backers every day until the election in North Carolina, a swing state he won twice

GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump will rally supporters in North Carolina every day until Tuesday's election, a flurry of late activity in the only swing state that he won in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Even as Trump looks to expand the electoral map and project strength with trips to New Mexico and Virginia, two Democratic states not widely viewed as competitive, he is putting considerable time into North Carolina, which last backed a Democrat for president in 2008.

The former president's path to the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency gets significantly more complicated if he loses North Carolina. The fast-growing Southern state gave Trump his smallest margin of victory — 1.3 percentage points — over Democrat Joe Biden four years ago.

Trump campaigned in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, and Greensboro on Saturday, with a stop in Salem, Virginia, in between. He will be in the eastern city of Kinston on Sunday and in Raleigh on Monday. Those four rallies will bring his total events in North Carolina since Oct. 1 to nine. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been in the state six times during the same period, most recently on Friday.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic rival, also was in North Carolina on Saturday for a concert and rally in Charlotte. Her campaign has not announced any other travel to the state before Election Day, though she's sending her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, to Greenville on Monday.

The extensive damage from Hurricane Helene across western North Carolina has created a dose of uncertainty about the state of play here. Flooding destroyed homes and displaced residents in several counties, including the liberal city of Asheville and the conservative rural areas surrounding it.

Trump's team has said it is confident about his chances in North Carolina. Democrats see Trump's attention on the state as a signal of optimism for Harris.

“The repeat appearances may signal Trump’s campaign is in trouble,” said Democratic state Rep. Marcia Morey of Durham. “If Trump continues with his dangerous, violent rhetoric these last few days, it may backfire. A campaign of personal retribution does not win votes from people.”

Trump adviser Jason Miller said Trump's late-campaign travels are not a signal of alarm.

“I'm not worried about anything," Miller told reporters Friday. "We have a smart strategy that's going to get President Trump across 270, maybe even a couple of states that surprise you, that slide in there. But we’re going to follow our strategy. Our strategy comes from our data and our targeting.”

As he does at most of his events in North Carolina, Trump said in Gastonia that his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, whom he installed as co-chair of the Republican National Committee, is from the state, and that Lara and Eric Trump named their daughter Carolina.

“It’s an amazing place. You’ve been through a lot,” Trump said, alluding to the hurricane before repeating a debunked claim that the Federal Emergency Management Agency prioritized people living in the country illegally over hurricane victims. “Your government has not helped you too much, I can tell you. Your government, FEMA, has let you down because they wanted to spend the money on illegal migrants instead.”

Later in Greensboro, only about half of the seats were filled in a massive 22,000-seat arena when Trump started speaking after 9 p.m. Trump spoke at another arena that’s part of the same complex just 11 days earlier, though Harris filled the larger venue when she spoke there recently.

Roughly half of North Carolina's 7.8 million registered voters had already voted as of Friday, buoyed by early in-person voting, which ended on Saturday afternoon.

North Carolina Republicans have been encouraged by early voter turnout among their supporters after national and state GOP leaders switched this year to a “bank your vote” strategy, rather than focusing on Election Day turnout.

Entering the final days of the campaign, over 50,000 more GOP registered voters than Democrats had voted early or by absentee ballot, even though there are over 100,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans statewide, according to state elections data. It is unclear whether the Republicans' early vote surge will result in a higher overall turnout for Trump supporters.

Independent voters now make up the largest group of registered voters in North Carolina. Trump lost ground with independents between 2016 and 2020.

Harris took the stage in Charlotte after rocker Jon Bon Jovi warmed up the crowd, sticking closely to the speech she's been delivering in her final tour of the battleground states.

Harris supporter Gwen Garnett, 66, said Trump barnstorming North Carolina is “just part of the process. It does not worry me at all.” She gave Harris’ candidacy a spiritual dimension.

“This is an anointed time for her to be in this role,” Garnett said. “I just believe it’s God’s timing.”

The state’s voters have shown a propensity to split their ticket over the years. That's why while Republicans have controlled the state legislature since 2011, Democrats have held the governor’s mansion for all but four years since 1993.

The GOP's hopes to break that hold on Tuesday appeared to dwindle in recent weeks after the party’s nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, received unwanted publicity from a CNN report that alleged he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago.

While Robinson denied writing the messages and sued CNN for defamation last month, his campaign nearly imploded, raising fears that a large victory by Democrat Josh Stein, the state's attorney general, could harm GOP candidates in other races.

Robertson reported from Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon in Detroit and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

A member of law enforcement takes position before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters listen as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Gastonia Municipal Airport, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Gastonia, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters listen as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Gastonia Municipal Airport, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Gastonia, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump smiles at a campaign rally at Gastonia Municipal Airport, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Gastonia, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

A member of law enforcement takes position before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Whitney Bruce of Roanoke, Va., looks at items for sale before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Salem Va., Saturday, Nov 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally at Gastonia Municipal Airport, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Gastonia, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures to supporters at a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves at a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Center for SafeSport abruptly fired one of its investigators last month after learning he'd been arrested for stealing money confiscated after a drug bust he was part of during his previous job as a police officer.

Jason Krasley left his job with the Allentown Police Department in Pennsylvania in 2021 and was hired by the Denver-based SafeSport center to look into sensitive cases involving sex abuse and harassment.

Among Krasley's cases was one with Sean McDowell, who had filed a report to the center accusing a member of his Seattle-based recreational rugby club of stalking and harassment. McDowell said it took the center, which has struggled with timely handling of complaints, about eight weeks to assign an investigator to the case.

That investigator turned out to be Krasley, who stopped responding to emails from McDowell a few weeks after they first spoke. Around then, McDowell got a terse email from the center's assistant director of investigations, Daniel Kast, who said he was “writing to advise you that Jason Krasley is no longer employed” by the center, and that a new investigator would be assigned.

McDowell did some digging and saw news reports that Krasley had been arrested and charged with theft and receiving stolen property for allegedly stealing $5,500 that had been confiscated from a drug bust in Allentown in 2019. The criminal case in Pennsylvania still has not been resolved.

“I went back and double-checked it. It was just disbelief, because I'm thinking, ‘There’s no way this could be the same guy,'” McDowell said. “I'm still struggling to wrap my mind around it because it just seems so off from what their stated mission is.”

The SafeSport Center was established in 2017 to deal with sexual-misconduct, harassment and similar cases in sports with an Olympic connection, from the elite level down to the grassroots.

At last count, it had around 77 employees on its response and resolutions team — 36 of whom are on the center's investigations team — and the center was receiving approximately 155 reports per week. While not every report ends up as a fully investigated case, the numbers speak to an ever-growing catalogue of cases that the agency, with an annual budget of around $21 million, is tasked with resolving.

Embedded within that issue are the challenges that come with finding qualified investigators to ask delicate questions of both accusers and those accused of misconduct. The center said it hires subject-matter experts from a variety of sources including law enforcement, child protective services, Title IX, and other relevant fields.

“Although we value our relationship with law enforcement, nobody is above the law," the center’s CEO, Ju’Riese Colon, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.

The center said it conducts multiple interviews and a “comprehensive background check” of potential employees by an independent third party “known nationally for its work in screening and vetting candidates.” Every year, the center conducts a search for criminal and sex-offender history for active employees.

“As a CEO, I am profoundly disappointed that a former staff member has been accused of such misconduct,” Colon said. “We take this matter seriously and are assessing the situation to determine what, if any, additional vetting could have prevented this individual from being eligible for hire.”

Public records show Krasley worked as a detective/task force officer for the Allentown police from 2002-21. His 2024 arrest came more than five years after the alleged theft.

It came out of a May 2019 drug bust on a barbershop where police seized cocaine and $16,000 in cash.

The grand jury presentment that led to the arrest revealed Krasley was one of the officers who counted the money and was later inside the van where it was stored. Back at the station, when some of the money went missing, Krasley became argumentative and would not submit to a personal search, according to the presentment.

Krasley did not respond to emails and text messages from AP seeking comment.

Krasley's arrest and dismissal from the center raises the question of what to do with the cases he handled during his time as an investigator there. The center did not provide a specific number of cases Krasley handled.

Among those whose cases were assigned to the former cop is Kirsten Hawkes, a fencer who ran into multiple frustrations with the center after reporting a claim that a former coach of hers forcibly kissed her after a meeting at a hotel bar.

Hawkes said Krasley came off as very sympathetic to her situation when they met, and “he'd sort of call me and talk about other things, like family, or other cases. We would talk for hours.”

Hawkes said she was grateful that someone was listening to her after her traumatic episode. But she also described Krasley as overly eager to resolve the case once it got to arbitration and unwilling to consider her abuse allegations against the same person from when Hawkes was a child.

When Hawkes heard that Krasley had been arrested and fired, she started wondering if her case and others were handled appropriately.

“They have the resources to call a police department and say ‘Hey we’re hiring him for a semi-government job handling sensitive information, anything we should know?'” Hawkes said. “It might not show up on a background check, but they should at least do the due diligence on digging a little bit further.

“It puts everything under a different lens, completely.”

The center said it was reviewing the cases Krasley was involved in, and currently has no indication any of them were mishandled. It is contracting with an external firm to conduct an audit of his cases.

Since Krasley's dismissal, McDowell, the rugby player, has had his case reassigned to a new investigator who he said “has been good" so far.

Still, the clock is ticking. The 34-year-old player says he was retaliated against and suspended by his rugby team in Seattle after he asked leaders to take action against the person he said was stalking him. The retaliation included sending details of his case to another rugby club in San Francisco, which also tried to bar him from playing.

“Because of this whole smear campaign, people are hostile to me,” McDowell said. "What the SafeSport Center doesn't understand is, this is actually my day-to-day life. It's not just the people I'm playing rugby with, because word spreads. And they just don't seem to really care, or take it seriously.”

McDowell brought the case in September. Heading into the Christmas holiday, he says the SafeSport Center had not treated his case with urgency and was no further along in getting his complaint resolved than when he initiated it.

“The public-facing comments seem to be that they're this beacon of hope and optimism," McDowell said. "Then, every time I read a new story about them, I keep thinking, ‘The actions from SafeSport don’t align with any of this.'”

This story has been corrected to show the center was receiving approximately 155 reports per week, not per month.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Recreational rugby player Sean McDowell, whose SafeSport case investigator Jason Krasley was fired after being arrested for stealing drug money in his previous job as a police officer, poses for a portrait Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

FILE - U.S. Center for SafeSport CEO Ju'Riese Colón testifies during The Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)