In a brutally honest new interview, former President Jimmy Carter has suggested that Donald Trump, who he branded an “illegitimate president,” only won his 2016 election because of Russian meddling, CNN reported.
He also suggested that a full investigation into the election would prove that Trump didn’t win and should never have become the president.
On Friday, Carter was speaking at the Carter Center conference in Virginia when he made the comments.
“There’s no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election,” he told reporters. “And I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016.”
Carter claimed that said investigation would also prove that Trump only got the office “because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”
Moderator Jon Meacham then asked the 94-year-old former president if, considering his claims against the events of the election, he would therefore consider Trump to be an “illegitimate” president.
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After hesitating for a moment, replied, “Based on what I just said, which I can’t retract.”
Carter’s comments have surprised many, considering how unusual it is for a former president to criticize the current one.
It is also shocking because, up until now, Carter has appeared to be one of Trump’s warmest supporters. In fact, out of all the living presidents, it seemed Trump had the best relationship with Carter.
In April, he took a phone call from the president to discuss US-China trade negotiations.
The phone call was actually the first that the two ever shared, with the White House confirming that it was a “very good telephone conversation” with “numerous other topics” discussed beyond trade negotiations.
While delivering a speech at his home church in Georgia the following Sunday, Carter praised Trump for his concern with how China is “getting ahead of us.”
He also defended Trump against reporters and claimed “the media have been harder on Trump.”
In a 2017 interview with The New York Times , Carter said he feels the media have been unreasonably critical of the POTUS, more so than “any other president certainly that I’ve known about.”
“I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation,” he said.
That isn’t to say that Carter has been in full support of everything Trump has done while in office.
He has previously criticized Trump’s foreign policy , branding his decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal a “serious mistake.”
“When a president signs an agreement, it should be binding on all his successors, unless the situation changes dramatically and it hasn’t changed,” he said. “Unfortunately, I think it signals a message to North Korea that if the United States signs an agreement, it may or may not be honored.”
Carter’s most recent remarks regarding the 2016 election call into reference former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
However, after the two-year investigation was completed, it was revealed that Mueller was unable to find sufficient evidence to charge any members or people associated with Trump’s campaign with conspiring with Russia to interfere with the election.
At the conference, Carter insisted that Trump should “condemn” Russian interference and just “admit that it happened.”
While attending the Group of 20 meeting in Osaka, Japan, the media asked Trump if he would warn Russia not to meddle in future US elections, particularly the upcoming 2020 election of which he has already announced his presidential campaign.
“Yes, of course, I will,” Trump said , pointing to Russian President Validamir Putin. “Don’t meddle in the election.”
