Former President Jimmy Carter is “talking politics again” after Vice President Kamala Harris became the top Democratic candidate.
“After my grandmother passed away, my father went through a long period of decline where he showed very little interest in politics,” his eldest grandson, Jason Carter, told The Washington Post, “but now he’s talking about politics again.”
Two family members told the paper that Carter’s health had been declining since the death of his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, in November last year, and he had been in hospice care for 18 months.
“That’s sad,” he said of President Joe Biden announcing that he would not seek reelection.
But emboldened by progress with the Harris campaign, he has recently been speaking more about and engaging with others about a 2024 presidential run.
James Carter III, better known as “Chip,” told The Washington Post that the former president watched the entire Democratic National Convention speech in Chicago.
“He thought Michelle Obama was the best and he thought Kamala was great,” the president’s son told the paper.
Carter will turn 100 on October 1 and has several events planned, including a concert in Atlanta and a 100-mile bike ride near his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
Former President Chip Carter told his father that many people think he was trying to survive to see his birthday, but Carter denied that.
“He said he didn’t care about that. It’s just his birthday. He said he was interested in voting for Kamala Harris,” Chip Carter told The Washington Post.
Carter’s home state of Georgia is one of the key battleground states that could determine the outcome of the 2024 election. Biden won the state by just one percentage point in 2020. Carter’s family told The Washington Post that he looks forward to casting his mail-in ballot for Harris.
“He doesn’t think Donald Trump should be president again,” Chip Carter told the paper.
No one knows how long Carter will live, but Jason Carter told The Washington Post, “I think at this point he’s given up on the idea of himself being in charge. I think he’s just waiting for God’s plan to come true.”
On August 18th, his late wife’s birthday, Carter was taken to her grave, which is near the pond at their home.
“He was looking at her gravestone, and when I started to talk he told me to shut up,” Chip Carter said.
The former president sat at the grave for about 20 minutes without saying a word.
“I’m sure he was praying, but he may have just been having a conversation with his mother,” Chip Carter added.
The Democratic National Convention began the next day, and while Trump has stayed away from television news, especially the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, there’s no way he’d miss the DNC.
“It took me most of the day to watch the previous night’s convention sessions, with breaks in between,” Chip Carter told The Post. “He’s very interested in this race.”
President Carter was the first president to appoint a black woman to his cabinet, selecting Patricia Roberts Harris as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
