Trump Ticks Off MAGA With U-Turn on Jimmy Carter
Donald Trump supporters called out the president-elect for failing to “keep it real” in his glowing tribute to former president Jimmy Carter following his death at 100 on Sunday.
Trump’s message a Carter was a departure from his usual attacks on the Democrat, whom he had ripped into just days earlier for brokering a deal in 1977 over the Panama Canal.
“Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History,” Trump wrote after the 39th president died at his home in Plains, Georgia.
“The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude,” he continued.
He then finished off the post with condolences to the Carter family.
But many were shocked at Trump’s sudden change of heart for Carter after his death, including some of his faithful supporters.
“Carter was a terrible president and damaged The United States Of America to such an extent that we are STILL dealing with his horribly policy decisions and his inflation repercussions in 2024,” a Truth Social user wrote. “I get it. He just passed. And we have to be respectful and nice. But let’s still keep it real.”
Another added, “Jimmy Carter pardoned all the Vietnam draft dodgers that forced other men to take their place! Many of these men did not come home.”
“Personally, I think Carter lived a long life to suffer for the pardons to the draft dodgers he pardoned,” they continued.
Others were quick to pile on to the dead president, with many attacking his policy decisions during his presidency from 1977 to 1981.
“At least Biden relieved him of the title of the worst President in history,” another wrote.
“Yes, I was thinking that.....But I didn’t want to say it on the day he died,” one user commented.
Trump’s relationship with Carter has notoriously been tumultuous, with the president-elect mocking him repeatedly in recent months, including on his 100th birthday in October.
While giving Biden the distinct honor of “worst” president in U.S. history, Trump said, “Jimmy Carter is the happiest man because Jimmy Carter is considered a brilliant president in comparison.”
He again took a dig at Carter earlier this month as he lashed out at Panama for charging the United States “exorbitant” fees for vessels to pass through the Panama Canal. In the rant, in which he threatened to take back control of the waterway, he criticized Carter for “foolishly” signing two treaties in 1977 that promised to transfer control to Panama.
Carter, for his part, has had his own critiques of Trump. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Carter said that a second Trump term would be a “disaster.”
“I think it will be a disaster to have four more years of Trump,” Carter said during a town hall event at the Carter Center in Atlanta on Sept. 17, 2019. “You know, if I were just 80 years old, if I were 15 years younger, I don’t believe I could undertake the duties that I experienced when I was President.”
Not all of Trump’s supporters were dismayed by him taking the higher road in the relationship following Carter’s death.
One user wrote of Trump: “He was being kind and polite. Can we leave it there?”
“When you die, I doubt anyone will be calling out all your faults. President Trump has called him out in the past, but now is not the time,” another penned.
One had a much simpler perspective on the president-elect’s condolences: “Trump is Classy.”
