How Jimmy Carter’s long feud with Donald Trump started on Stephen Colbert

Jimmy Carter may have been a longtime Sunday school teacher, but he also knew how to dish it out to a political rival — with a smile on his face.

Almost seven years ago, at the age of 93, Carter launched some memorable shots Donald Trump in one interview on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

It came at a time when Democrats were in turmoil during Trump’s first term.

Trump hit back at Carter, repeatedly criticizing him in campaign speeches until this fall — including on his 100th birthday.

Now Carter’s death on Sunday will cut short part of the run-up to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

Trump has launched cabinet announcements and policy ideas as he prepares to take the oath of office for a second time following his historic comeback. The Democrats have stayed in the background.

But Carter will be remembered in Washington, DC and Georgia just days before the inauguration.

After Carter’s death, Trump issued a statement saying the nation owed the 39th president a “debt of gratitude” for his service.

It was very different from the swipes and counter moves the two had previously made at each other during a long feud.

“Does America want some kind of idiot as president?” Colbert asked Carter during the 2018 interview, questioning whether the Georgian was “too nice.”

“Apparently, given the recent elections, yes. I never knew before,” Carter joked with a smile, drawing a big laugh from the audience.

The host also asked him what it took to become president.

“I used to think it was to tell the truth,” Carter said, taking a dramatic pause. “But I’ve changed my mind lately.”

In the interview, Carter also said he is praying for Trump.

Trump frequently went after Carter, whose Gallup approval rating was 34 percent when he left office.

Carter came in 26th when historians were asked to rank the US presidents in 2021.

Trump mocked Carter’s administration at an Oct. 1 campaign event in Waunakee, Wisconsin, comparing him to President Joe Biden, whom Trump regularly dismisses as weak and oblivious.

“Jimmy Carter is the luckiest man because Jimmy Carter is considered a brilliant president in comparison (to Joe Biden),” Trump said.

Carter made other comments about Trump, including telling CBS that Trump was “very careless with the truth.”

“I think he’s a disaster… In terms of human rights and equal treatment of people,” Carter said.

Host Stephen Colbert asked Carter what it took to become president

Carter attended Trump’s inauguration in 2017. Trump did not attend Rosalyn Carter’s memorial service, although he issued a statement after Jimmy Carter’s death saying the nation owed him “a debt of gratitude.”

Donald Trump repeatedly attacked Jimmy Carter at rallies, saying Biden’s administration was worse than his

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died in 2023, added at the time: “The worst part is that he’s not telling the truth, and that just hurts everything.”

Trump did not attend Rosalynn Carter’s memorial service in Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, although neither did Barack Obama or George W. Bush.

In 2019, the 39th president indicated during a speech at the Carter Center that he believed Trump was an illegitimate president.

He pointed to allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

When asked about Russia’s role, Carter said, “Well, the president himself would have to condemn it, admit that it happened, which I think is 16.” [of the] intelligence services have already agreed to this.

“And there is no doubt that the Russians meddled in the election. And I think the interference, while not yet quantified, if fully investigated, would show that Trump did not actually win the 2016 election.

“He lost the election and was put in power because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”

When presidential biographer Jon Meacham, a favorite of Biden’s, asked if he believed Trump was an illegitimate president, Carter joked, “Based on what I said, which I can’t retract…,” then flashed a toothy grin.