The daughter of Republican former President Gerald R. Ford has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Susan Ford Bales, the youngest child of the late president, issued her endorsement on Monday. She said that though she may disagree with some of her policies, Harris "recognizes the goodness and greatness in our country," and will "defend the rule of law and our Constitution."
Ford Bales is the latest in a growing list of Republicans to publicly endorse the Democratic nominee. Her endorsement followed both Harris and former President Donald Trump campaigning in Michigan over the weekend in a bid to secure the battleground state, where Gerald Ford grew up.
Ford was the 38th president, serving from 1974 to 1977 after the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He is the only president born in Nebraska, and died in 2006. Ford Bales is his only daughter. She is an author, photojournalist and the former chair of the board of the Betty Ford Center.
Ford Bales said, "Vice President Harris and I likely disagree on some policy, but her integrity and commitment to those same principles that guided Dad have led me to conclude that Kamala Harris should be elected 47th president of the United States."
"I know she will work to bring all Americans together to move us beyond partisanship. That is what America deserves from our president, and that is why I am proud to endorse Vice President Harris for president of the United States."
"America cannot regress back to a divisive paradigm of loathing toward one another and disdain for our Constitution. We witnessed on January 6 the horrors of what that looks like, and we can never allow repeat of that tragedy," Ford Bales said.
Harris has landed a number of endorsements from key GOP figures, including former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, former Kansas Sen. Nancy Kassebaum and former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.
A letter was signed in September by over 100 former members of Congress and national security advisers from previous Republican administrations, calling Trump "unfit to serve again" as president.
Harris has also been endorsed by former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz Cheney, the former congresswoman from Wyoming who has long been critical of Trump.
Harris and Liz Cheney have hit the campaign trail together, and on Monday the pair are heading out to three suburban battleground counties which had been previously carried by Nikki Haley in the GOP primaries: Chester County, Pennsylvania; Oakland County, Michigan; and Waukesha County, Wisconsin.
Alongside Cheney, and in her bid to win over undecided voters with the presidential election fast approaching, Harris has pushed a message of "country over party."
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns via email for comment.
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