Former US President Jimmy Carter, who recently turned a hundred, announced that he is voting for Kamala Harris and that is what he really cares about, dismissing his age-related milestone moment as "just another birthday".
"He said he didn't care about that. It's just a birthday. He said he cared about voting for Kamala Harris." James Earl "Chip" Carter III said in an interview to The Washington Post.
That is 100-year-old Jimmy Carter, the oldest ex-president who served in office from 1977 to 1981, during the Cold War era. Chip Carter also added that his father spent his days watching speeches from the Democratic National Convention. "He thought Michelle Obama was the best, and he thought Kamala was great, too," he said.
'I'm only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris,' Carter told his son Chip, his grandson Jason Carter told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
Donald Trump has always been of the opinion that Jimmy Carter was "the worst president", however more recently he said, "Joe Biden is the worst president in the history of our country, worse than Jimmy Carter by a long shot."
Georgia - one of the seven key swing states is critical to the November election as Biden beat Donald Trump in 2020 by a hair's breadth - less than 1 percent of the vote in the state, and Carter's family said he can't wait to cast his mail-in ballot for Harris. Furthermore, he does not believe Donald Trump should be president again, Chip Carter said.
Although a 100-year-old exercising his rights might seem touching and inspiring, users on X have varying opinions regarding the centenarian ex-prez casting his vote and the photo has been widely shared on social media. One user commented, "This is crazy. I have some dead relatives I can dig up and take to vote for Trump if this is what we're doing now."
While another said, "Did he actually vote or was it a family member that did it for him? Does anyone know if he's even of sound mind and was capable of making his own decision?" Another user condemned the entire episode, saying, "Shame on the Democrats for wheeling him out in that state."
Shame on the Democrats for wheeling him out in that state.
— AmericanPapaBear (@AmericaPapaBear) October 15, 2024
On the flipside, there were users who also celebrated the gesture, "Carter's vote serves as a reminder that in American politics, age doesn't necessarily diminish one's sense of duty or the desire to shape the future. Ok? Ok."
Ah, Jimmy Carter casting his vote for Kamala Harris as early voting opens—quite the symbolic gesture, don't you see? The former president, now 99, is still deeply engaged in the political landscape, driven not by the prospect of his own milestone birthday, but by the opportunity…
— L. Ron Hubbard (Parody) (@FakeLRonHubbard) October 15, 2024
One of the most important questions that arises with this particular instance is whether the state will count Carter's ballot if he fails to make it till November 5th. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, in such cases, most states haven't delineated what to do. Clearly such votes will likely not be numerous enough to sway the results of an election.
According to his son who spoke to the Journal-Constitution, Carter is very "interested in politics and the war in Gaza".
"After my grandmother passed, he had a pretty long low period when he wasn't really engaging much at all," The Washington Post quoted Jason Carter, his eldest grandchild. "But now he's talking about politics again."
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