Former President Jimmy Carter is “talking about politics again” following the ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket.
“After my grandmother passed, he had a pretty long low period when he wasn’t really engaging much at all,” his eldest grandchild Jason Carter told The Washington Post. “But now he’s talking about politics again.”
Two members of the Carter family told the paper that after the death of his wife, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in November last year, his health has worsened. He has been in hospice for 18 months.
As he watched President Joe Biden announce that he wasn’t seeking re-election, he said, “That’s sad.”
But he has recently been talking more and engaging others about the 2024 race for the White House, apparently buoyed by the progress of the Harris campaign.
James Carter III, who goes by “Chip,” told The Post that the former president watched all of the speeches from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
“He thought Michelle Obama was the best, and he thought Kamala was great, too,” the president’s son told the paper.
Carter is set to turn 100 on October 1, and several events have been planned, including a concert in Atlanta and a 100-mile bike ride close to his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
Chip Carter told his father that many think he’s trying to stay alive to reach his birthday, something the former president rejected.
“He said he didn’t care about that. It’s just a birthday. He said he cared about voting for Kamala Harris,” Chip Carter told The Post.
Carter’s home state of Georgia is one of the key battleground states that will decide the outcome of the 2024 election. In 2020, Biden won the state by less than one percentage point. The Carter family told The Post that the former president is looking forward to sending in his mail vote for Harris.
“He does not believe Donald Trump should be president again,” Chip Carter told the paper.
No one knows how long Carter will live, with Jason Carter telling The Post, “I really think at this point he has given up his thought of being in control. I think he is waiting for God’s plan to run its course.”
On his late wife’s birthday, August 18, Carter was taken to her grave near a pond at their home.
“He was looking at her tombstone, and I started talking, and he told me to be quiet,” Chip Carter said.
The former president sat in front of the grave for about 20 minutes, not saying a word.
“No doubt he was praying, but he could have been just having a conversation with Mom,” Chip Carter added.
The Democratic National Convention began the next day. He has been shielded from TV news, particularly the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. But he wouldn’t miss the DNC.
“It took most of the day to watch the convention session from the night before with some breaks,” Chip Carter told The Post. “He is big-time interested in this campaign.”
Carter was the first president to appoint a Black woman to the cabinet, tapping Patricia Roberts Harris to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.