Tag: jimmy carter
Jimmy Carter

'Piggish Is Too Kind': Trump Ripped For Slurring Late President Carter

President Donald Trump could not acknowledge Jimmy Carter today without using the death of the former President to dig at his own presidential predecessor Joe Biden.

“Jimmy Carter died a happy man. You know why? Because he wasn't the worst president. Joe Biden was,” Trump told a crew of reporters at the White House.

The statement drew immediate reaction from online critics from all over the world. Harri Ohra-aho, senior advisor for defense and former security director of the Finnish Military Intelligence Centre described Trump as too stupid to see anything as more than spectacle.

“Whatever one may think about the policies of previous presidents, this is probably the bottom line,” Ohra-aho posted. “Everything seems to be just a show for the current one.”

National Review senior editor Jay Nordlinger was similarly despairing, saying, “I don’t think an American president should talk this way. Then again, I could say this every day. And tens of millions of Americans lap up Trump like milk.”

Boston University College of Education Professor Jerry Berger had his own reaction, posting, “Piggish is too kind a word to describe this individual.”

The statement also presented an easy target for Occupy Democrats Executive Editor Grant Stern, who called the claim: “Half true. Half False. Trump is definitely the worst president, and it's not even close,” while Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said, “Jimmy Carter, if he died a happy man, it was because he lived a life of service, and followed a path laid out by Jesus.”

Other critics, like Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist and Forbes writer Sophia Nelson could only muster a single-word reaction: “Jesus…”

Carter’s memory is etched in the minds of millions of people, regardless of political disposition. In 1982, he established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Among his many accomplishments, Carter spent his retirement building homes for the homeless, and he is attributed as the chief architect behind the near eradication of the African Guinea worm, one of humanity’s only species-specific parasites.

He also likely did not vote for Trump.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Lady Karen Pence

Mrs. Pence Redeems 'Karen' As She Snubs Trump At Carter Funeral

One awkward interaction between President-elect Donald Trump and former Second Lady Karen Pence at the state funeral of President Jimmy Carter is going viral.

The Indianapolis Star reported Thursday that while Trump and his wife, Melania were walking past Vice Presidents Al Gore, Mike Pence and his wife, the spouse of Trump's former vice president — who declined to endorse him in 2024 — stayed seated and didn't even acknowledge the Trumps. Karen Pence snubbed the incoming First Family despite both Gore and her husband rising from their seats to shake his hand.

Former Republican Ron Filipkowski — who is now the editor-in-chief of liberal news site MeidasTouchposted video of the snub to Bluesky, writing: "Karen Pence wants nothing to do with Donald or Melania Trump."

"Karen Pence has more of a spine than her entire party," retired attorney Michael B. Lehroff wrote in response to the video.

The former second lady's coldness to the incoming president could be due to Trump egging on the mob of his supporters that laid siege to the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, erected a gallows outside and roamed the halls chanting "hang Mike Pence!" Pence was escorted out of the Senate chamber by Secret Service as the mob broke past police barricades after refusing to stop the certification of Electoral College votes for President Joe Biden. Rather than call off the mob, Trump instead tweeted that his vice president "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution."

Olivia Troye — a former national security aide for Vice President Pence — praised her former boss' wife on Bluesky, writing: "Karen Pence is all of us right now having to stomach Trump sitting that close to them. Her face when he walked in said it all." Rolling Stone reporter Asawin Suebsaeng was also shocked at the interaction, especially when contrasting it with how Trump was received by other dignitaries, like former President Barack Obama.

"Am I getting this right? Is the only one being openly rude to Trump at this funeral… Karen Pence?" Suebsaeng skeeted.

"At least one of the Pences has some cojones," writer Rebecca Bodenheimer commented.

Karen Pence wasn't the only celebrity present at the funeral to decline a handshake from the president-elect. Former Republican President George W. Bush also refused to shake Trump's hand, despite warmly welcoming former President Bill Clinton and former First Lady Hillary Clinton to the ceremony.

Watch the video of Karen Pence's snub below, or by clicking this link.

Karen Pence wants nothing to do with Donald or Melania Trump.

[image or embed]

— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) January 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Texas Governor Sends 'Condolences' To Rosalynn Carter (Who Died In 2023)

Texas Governor Sends 'Condolences' To Rosalynn Carter (Who Died In 2023)

On Sunday, December 29, former President Jimmy Carter passed away at 100.

Carter was a widower. His wife, former First Lady Rosalynn Smith Carter, died on November 19, 2023.

But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded to the former president's death by giving Mrs. Carter his condolences.

According to the Daily Beast's Grace Harrington, "The Republican governor released a statement Sunday saying he and his wife 'send our prayers and deepest condolences to First Lady Rosalynn Carter and the entire Carter family.' Abbott also lauded Carter for his 'selfless service to the American people.'"

Abbott, Harrington notes, was "neglecting to take into account that she died last year."

Two hours later, Harrington reports, Abbott "amended the statement on X to remove any mention of the former first lady."

Both of the Carters lived long lives. Although Rosalynn Smith Carter didn't live quite as long as the former president, she was 96 when she passed away.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter Dead At 100; President Biden Will Deliver Eulogy

The 39th president of the United States, James Earl Carter Jr., died yesterday after receiving care at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he resided with his wife, Rosalynn Carter, until she passed on Sunday, November 19, 2023. On that day, the former President refused hospital care, saying he wanted to go out holding Rosalynn's hand, according to historian Michael Beschloss

"Number one, this was one of the great marriages in American history, even if they weren't president and first lady," said Beschloss. "Not only the length of this marriage, (77 years) but the closeness of it — that partnership. And you know, everyone who has said this in the last two minutes is absolutely right. They love most of all being with each other. I am told by someone who is very close to both Carters, that last winter, when Jimmy Carter was told that he was very sick and there was not very much that could be done for him, he was told, probably the best thing is for you to go into the hospital where you can get the best care. And I am told that President Carter said, no, I want to get home, and be in bed with Rosalynn, and just sit holding hands, and that's the way I'd like to close my life. And that's really the way it happened."

Last May, one of Jimmy Carter’s grandsons said that the former president's life is “coming to the end.

He's "doing OK. He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now, and he really is, I think, coming to the end that, as I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him, and there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end and I think he has been there in that space," Jason Carter said.

According to earlier reports, President Joe Biden will deliver Carter's eulogy.

In recent years, Carter had received various hospital treatments, including when he revealed in August 2015 that he had brain cancer and was undergoing radiation treatment — an illness he recovered from, seemingly against the odds.

In addition to being president, the 100-year-old was a U.S. Navy submarine officer, a farmer, a diplomat, a Nobel laureate, a Sunday school teacher and one of the world’s most well-known humanitarians.

Carter won the presidency in 1976, following the Nixon and Ford administrations, at a time of grave political and social tumult not unlike our own. During his tenure, the Democrat prioritized human rights and social justice, enjoying a solid first two years, which included brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt dubbed the Camp David Accords.

But his administration hit numerous snags — the most serious being the taking of U.S. hostages in Iran and the disastrous failed attempt to rescue the 52 captive Americans in 1980.

The blowback from the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, held in the former Soviet Union in response to that country’s invasion of Afghanistan, may have also hurt Carter.

Richard Moe, who served from 1977 to 1981 as chief of staff to Vice President Walter Mondale, offered an alternative view of Carter’s presidency in 2015, citing numerous achievements.

As worthy as Jimmy Carter’s post-presidency has been, it shouldn’t overshadow his time in office, which has been too often overlooked, and which stands in sharp contrast to what we see in the [Trump administration],” Moe said.

In November 1980, Republican challenger Ronald Reagan beat Carter, relegating him to a single term of office on a wave of staunch conservatism.

“We told the truth, we obeyed the law, and we kept the peace,” said Vice President Walter Mondale at the end of Carter’s term.

In the introduction of his 2015 book, A Full Life, Carter repeated the Mondale quote, adding, “We championed human rights.”

As the years passed, a more nuanced image of Carter emerged, taking into account his post-presidential activities and reassessing his achievements.

He founded the Carter Center in 1982 to pursue his vision of world diplomacy and received the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote social and economic justice.

Carter said basic Christian tenets such as justice and love served as the bedrock of his presidency, and the ex-president taught Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist, his church in Plains, well into his 90s.

Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who is also a senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King, Jr. preached, wished the Carter family comfort as the former president entered hospice.

"Across life's seasons, President Jimmy Carter, a man of great faith, has walked with God," Warnock tweeted. "In this tender time of transitioning, God is surely walking with him."

Both Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter made plans to be buried at their family home in Plains, near “a willow tree at the pond’s edge, on a gentle sloping lawn, where they will be buried in graves marked by simple stones.”

The Carters’ property has already been deeded to the National Park Service.

With additional reporting from AFP.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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