Jimmy Carter, the longest-living U.S. president, passed away at age 100 over the weekend. Tributes poured in from all over the globe, highlighting Carter's service both in and out of the Oval Office. Donald Trump's tribute, however, took a different route.
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00:00He was a nice man. He was a terrible president."
00:05That's Donald Trump back in 2019, weighing in on Jimmy Carter, who was 94 at the time.
00:09Carter, the longest-living U.S. president, passed away at 100 over the weekend. Tributes
00:14poured in from all over the globe, highlighting Carter's service both in and out of the Oval
00:19Office.
00:20Donald Trump's tribute, however, took a different route. The president-elect made himself a
00:24big part of the story, writing on Truth Social,
00:26"...I just heard of the news about the passing of President Jimmy Carter. Those of us who
00:30have been fortunate to have served as president understand this is a very exclusive club,
00:35and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the greatest nation in history."
00:39In a later post, Trump pointed out that he strongly disagreed with Carter, philosophically
00:44and politically, a sentiment he's shared before.
00:46"...He's like the forgotten president. And I understand why they say that. He was not
00:52a good president."
00:53Trump did end both posts with condolences and support for Carter's family. However,
00:58his choice of words and how he inserted himself into the situation didn't go unnoticed on
01:02social media. Some people on X took issue with Trump's posts, especially the part about
01:07the presidency being an exclusive club. One person wrote,
01:10"...the presidency is not a club, let alone exclusive. But of course, he feels he must
01:14redefine everything so it makes himself more important."
01:17Another wrote,
01:18"...that selfish, self-righteous, self-absorbed, disgusting second sentence. The office of
01:23the president is not a membership to Mar-a-Lago, and to push himself front and center yet again
01:27is hurtful to those who genuinely mourn President Carter."
01:30On the other hand, some characterized his message as being more restrained and respectful
01:34than what they were expecting. One person wrote,
01:37"...I am surprised Trump wasn't nasty about him. He usually is in such situations."
01:41Others online speculated that it'll only be a matter of time before Trump shares something
01:45more insulting about Carter, and that Trump can't be happy with all the attention that
01:49Carter's death is getting.
01:51Additionally, former presidents attend the state funerals of other presidents, though
01:54there are some online wondering if Trump would even be invited, considering the bad blood
01:58between them. Carter wasn't a fan of Trump as Commander-in-Chief, writing him off back
02:02in 2016.
02:03"...it's the flesh in the pan, and he's getting all of the publicity he wants, which is probably
02:08his main goal."
02:09However, Carter did attend Trump's inauguration in 2017. Others online are relieved that Carter
02:15died while Joe Biden was still in office, so Trump wouldn't have any control over the
02:19state funeral arrangements. And some are noting the uncanny timing. With Carter's
02:23death on December 29th, 2024, flags will still be at half-mast in his honor for Trump's inauguration
02:29events in January 2025, as they are lowered for 30 days after a president's death.
02:34We have a feeling that just might be the topic of a future Truth Social post from Trump.