One of George W Bush’s daughters has spoken out about why she’s campaigning for Kamala Harris.
While her father has said he will not weigh in on the 2024 race, Barbara Pierce Bush has thrown her support behind the Democrat and is actively campaigning for her to beat Donald Trump.
“It was inspiring to join friends and meet voters with the Harris-Walz campaign in Pennsylvania this weekend,” the 42-year-old told People magazine in a statement on Tuesday. “I’m hopeful they’ll move our country forward and protect women’s rights.”
Ms Bush has been an advocate for women’s reproductive rights, having appeared at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser in March 2017, just months after former President Donald Trump entered office.
The vote of confidence is a stark turnaround from 2010, when the former first daughter said she didn’t identify with either the Democrats or the Republicans.
Her statement backing the Harris campaign has been welcomed by Liz Cheney, whose father Dick served as George W Bush’s VP and is also backing the Democrat for the White House.
“Thank you, Barbara Bush, for standing for truth, decency, and freedom,” Ms Cheney wrote on X.
The Cheneys are both trying to convince Republicans to support Harris to prevent a second Trump presidency, and Liz Cheney has appeared on the campaign trail with Harris multiple times in recent weeks.
“He can never be trusted with power again,” her father Dick said last month, referring to Trump. “As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Harris has also been endorsed by another former first daughter – Susan Bales Ford, the daughter of the late Gerald Ford.
“America cannot regress back to a divisive paradigm of loathing toward one another and disdain for our Constitution,” she wrote on October 21. “We witnessed on January 6 the horrors of what that looks like, and we can never allow a repeat of that tragedy.”
