President Biden on Sunday night declared that incoming president Trump could learn “decency” from former president Jimmy Carter after the 39th president’s death at 100 years old.
“Decency. Decency. Decency,” Biden answered a reporter who asked him what Trump could take from Carter into his next administration. “Everyone deserves a shot.”
The longest-lived president in U.S. history, Carter passed away in hospice care surrounded by loved ones. The former president had been treated for melanoma, a type of skin cancer, in the past decade. Carter’s family announced in February 2023 that he entered hospice care at his Georgia home after a series of short hospital stays. Carter spent nearly two years in hospice before passing away.
Most media have heaped glowing coverage and adulation on the former president after Carter’s death. But some media have critically examined his record in and out of office, especially in international affairs. Though he earned a reputation for being a humanitarian and strong Christian, he is also remembered for presiding over economic and geopolitical turmoil. He appointed himself the chief mediator between Egypt and Israel in the Camp David accords, which failed to create lasting peace in the Middle East. In 1980, Carter lost in a landslide election to Ronald Reagan, who promised a return to national prosperity.
Biden on Sunday implied that Trump lacks Carter’s charitable temperament, though he did not mention the importance of good policies in politics which likely loomed large for voters this past November.
“Can you imagine Jimmy Carter walking by someone when they need something and just keep walking?” Biden told reporters. “Can you imagine Jimmy Carter referring to someone by the way they look or the way they talk? I can’t. I can’t.”
Biden’s presidency has been compared to Carter’s, specifically for its rough economic conditions. In his address Sunday, Biden called Carter a “dear friend” who “saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.” Biden urged young people to study Carter’s example and leadership traits, namely “principle, faith, and humility.”