Oct. 21 (UPI) — The daughter of former Republican President Gerald Ford announced Monday she is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 election despite their policy disagreements.
Susan Ford Bales, a registered Republican, said her decision was guided by similarities between U.S. divisiveness in 1974 over war, the oil crisis and inflation, when her father assumed the presidency, and now.
“We face a similar dynamic today,” Ford Bales said in a Monday press release from the Harris campaign, adding that in 1974, the United States was “in need of a serious, compassionate and honorable leader who had the courage to do what was right and always to defend our Constitution.”
“His dedication to those values helped bring our country through a turbulent time and restored Americans’ trust in our democracy,” Ford Bales said in a statement.
“Vice President Harris and I likely disagree on some policy matters, 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,” Ford Bales added. “I know she will defend the rule of law and our Constitution.”
Gerald Ford became president after serving as vice president to former President Richard Nixon, who resigned from office during his second term following the Watergate scandal. After taking office, Ford issued a controversial pardon of Nixon, leading him to testify before the House Judiciary Committee that his goal was to “heal the nation.”
“I was more anxious to heal the nation; that was the top priority. And I felt then and I feel now that the action I took will do that,” Ford said, adding that he was desperate to “reconcile divisions in our country and to heal the wounds that had festered far too long.”
Ford Bales is the latest Republican to throw her support behind Harris. On Monday, Harris participated in a moderated conversation with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney in the swing state of Michigan, where President Ford was raised. Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz and former Rep. Dave Trott have also endorsed the vice president.
