Ledger · 2024 campaign · № 222
'I would fire him within two seconds'
Broken“It's so easy — I would fire him within two seconds.”
- Promised
- , Call-in interview on 'The Hugh Hewitt Show', asked whether he would fire special counsel Jack Smith on the day he took the oath
- Stated deadline
- “within two seconds of taking office” → October 25, 2024
- Overdue by
- 1 year, 10 months as of September 22, 2026
- Re-promised
- 3 times with a fresh deadline
- Topic
- Justice & the courts
- Era
- 2024 campaign
What happened
He never got to fire him. After the election Smith moved to drop both federal cases, which were dismissed on November 25, 2024 under DOJ's policy against prosecuting a sitting president, and Smith resigned from the Justice Department on January 10, 2025, ten days before the inauguration. Legal analysts also noted a president cannot personally fire a special counsel; only the attorney general can.