In the latest support to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, the attorney general under former Republican president George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzales said he will vote for the vice president in the November election.
Making the announcement in Politico, Gonzales said he can't sit quietly as Donald Trump eyes a return to the White House. "For that reason, though I'm a Republican, I've decided to support Kamala Harris for president."
Trump's involvement in the US Capitol attack on January 6, and his felony convictions were the main reasons for the Republican to offer his support to Harris.
"Trump failed to do his duty and exercise his presidential power to protect members of Congress, law enforcement and the Capitol from the attacks that day. He failed to deploy executive branch personnel to save lives and property and preserve democracy," said Gonzales.
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Though Gonzales admits that he does not really know Trump, he said several senior officials who worked for the former US president now refuse to support him.
"Their unwillingness to endorse their former boss is an indictment of his character at a level equal to his many, many criminal indictments," he said.
Gonzales’s backing for Harris comes after Taylor Swift extended her support to Harris and said she would be casting her vote for the Democratic candidate after watching the debate.
"I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos." she wrote on Instagram.
Pitch for the swing states
After the debate, both candidates are preparing their pitch for the swing states. Harris, who is in North Carolina on Thursday, will hold campaign events in Charlotte and Greensboro. Meanwhile, Trump will be heading west to Tucson, Arizona, as he aims to stabilize his campaign.
North Carolina has voted for the Republican presidential candidates in almost every election over decades. Trump won North Carolina by just 1.3 percentage points in 2020, a narrow victory that has boosted Democrats’ morale as they hope to turn it another Georgia this time.
Initially, Arizona was dominated by the Democratic party but from 1952, the state voted Republican in every Presidential election.
Harris's campaign said Thursday's trip will be her ninth visit to the state this year. More than two dozen combined campaign offices - supporting Harris and the rest of the party's candidates - have been opened.
Republicans also are confident about Trump's chances in the state, and the former president held rallies there in August.