Former President Jimmy Carter‘s grandson said it was “high praise” for his grandfather to be mocked by ex-President Donald Trump—who hurled insults at the Democrat during a campaign rally over the weekend—a day before ex-first lady Rosalynn Carter died.
Rosalynn Carter died at her home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday at age 96, just two days after the Carter Center announced she had been admitted into hospice care. Jimmy Carter, the oldest living former U.S. president, at 99, has been in hospice for several months.
Trump did pay tribute to the former first lady in a post to Truth Social on Sunday, describing Rosalynn as “a devoted First Lady, a great humanitarian, a champion of mental health, and a beloved wife to her husband for 77 years, President Carter.” But during a campaign rally the day before her passing, Trump threw a jab at Jimmy Carter while criticizing President Joe Biden.
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Speaking to supporters at Fort Dodge, Iowa, Trump said that “the happiest person anywhere in this country right now is Jimmy Carter because his administration looked brilliant compared to these clowns.”
“Compared to Biden, Jimmy Carter was a brilliant, brilliant president,” he added at the event Saturday.
Carter’s grandson, James Carter IV, responded to Trump’s digs on X, formerly Twitter, Monday afternoon, writing, “I hate that my grandfather’s name is in Trump’s mouth at all, but I am not offended.”
“For a Democrat, being mocked by Trump is high praise,” Carter IV added.
I hate that my grandfather’s name is in Trump’s mouth at all, but I am not offended. For a Democrat, being mocked by Trump is high praise. https://t.co/3DkEkiyxO6
— James Carter IV (@JECarter4) November 20, 2023
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign via email for comment Monday.
Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 GOP primary race, is known for delivering scathing remarks against his political opponents and critics. His rhetoric has been compared to that of dictators, including Adolf Hitler, among the most notorious tyrants of the 20th century. Trump’s Republican opponents have said little about his inflammatory remarks, even though he often attacks the candidates challenging his reelection bid.
The former president has specifically received backlash in recent weeks after saying in an interview with The National Pulse that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek in a statement last week that the people who compare Trump’s comments to individuals like Hitler are “snowflakes.”
“Those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their sad, miserable existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House,” Cheung said.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
