As the government considers his history and the supporters of President-elect Donald Trump note that President Joe Biden‘s attempt for flags to be flown at half-staff has resulted in them being lowered during Trump’s opening, making it unlikely that the demise of former president Jimmy Carter will provide a long respite from social rancor.
The consumer is also divided to put partisanship apart and grieve along for a long time, according to Northeastern University political science professor Costas Panagopoulos, even though some might anticipate a president’s death would bring the country together.
Yet if Carter’s death brings Americans closer for a short moment, the unity is doubtful to last, according to Panagopoulos, who told the Washington Examiner.” Recollections of the Carter president may be perceived and processed through political lenses.
Ronald Reagan biographer Craig Shirley went further, contending that the land “has not been united”, even during the Revolutionary War, except for after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and the criminal attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
The fact that we’re divided over the banners at half-staff for Jimmy Carter and interrupting the Trump inauguration is expected, Shirley told the Washington Examiner.” We’ve always been united as a nation. People will discover a cause for concern.
Trump, who has criticized Carter’s economic and foreign plans, did appreciate the” problems” Carter encountered as leader” came at a important occasion for our state and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans”.
Trump wrote on Truth Social,” While I strongly disagreed with him politically and philosophically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our country and all it stands for.” ” He was a really great man and, of course, will become greatly missed. He was also very crucial, far more than most President, after he left the Oval Office”.
Even with Trump’s statement, Carter’s critics have emphasized Carter’s personal criticism of the country’s top leaders, who for years have used him as a social cudgel against Biden in response to their comparable presidential challenges of inflation and the Middle East, perhaps before Biden also served as a one-term president.
For instance, Carter brokered a post-presidency peace deal with North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung under the path of former president Bill Clinton, but he did it without getting Kim Il Sung to agree. He later made the announcement on CNN. In addition, Carter wrote a book on the Middle East conflict called Palestine: Harmony No Apartheid, in which he argued that Israel‘s “apartheid” was worse than that of South Africa.
” He was a terrible leader”, Democratic planner Scott Jennings said on CNN. ” That’s why he lost in a flood after his one word. And if it’s feasible, I think he was even a worse ex-president because of his involvement in U. S. foreign plan, because of his saddling up to tyrants around the world, because of his furious views, anti-Israel opinions. Even after the American people had vehemently and unpopularly rejected his leadership, he was a man with a huge ego and believed he was uniquely positioned to do all of these things.
In his reelection campaign against Reagan in 1980, Carter received 489 votes to 49.
Despite having a postpresidency dedicated to “faith, humanitarian efforts, and continued public service,” according to Panagopoulos, for whom he won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, opinions of Carter are likely to become more polarized along partisan lines than they were when he was in office.
He claimed that “many Americans will be unable to see past the party label attached to his name.”
That trend is at odds with recent presidents who have become more popular during their postpresidencies, for instance, George W. Bush and Trump, but can be partly explained because of Carter’s connection to issues, including inflation. Under Biden, inflation peaked in June 2022 when consumer prices were 9.1 % higher than the year before, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Under Carter, the annualized inflation rate peaked at 14.6 % in March and April 1980.
” Today is , Jimmy , Carter ‘s , 100th , birthday”, House Speaker Mike Johnson spokesman Bobby LaValley , wrote in an email to reporters in October. ” Both , Carter , and , Biden , have presided over struggling economies, high inflation, and major foreign policy failures. Does the , Biden , administration acknowledge concerns that history is repeating itself under their leadership”?
” Plummeting , confidence , in the economy, the most , unpopular , president in modern history,  , soaring inflation, and a , looming recession“, then-Republican National Committee spokesman Tommy Pigott added in a separate email in July 2022. ” If you aren’t having , Jimmy , Carter , déjà vu, you should be”.
To that end, Biden’s approval rating never reached the depth of Carter’s lowest average approval of 29 %, which Carter recorded on day 894 of his presidency amid rising inflation, interest, and unemployment rates and an energy crisis, according to FiveThirtyEight. Biden’s lowest average approval was 36.9 % this summer, shortly after his debate against Trump, which preceded him stepping down as the 2024 Democratic nominee, according to the same polling aggregator.
Biden was also criticized last weekend when he proclaimed Jan. 9, 2025, a National Day of Mourning for Carter, ordering the U. S. flag to be flown at half-staff at the White House, federal buildings and grounds, and military posts and naval stations for the next 30 days, in accordance with the U. S. Flag Code.
Conservative activist Laura Loomer wrote on X that Joe Biden has designated January 9th, 2025 as a National Day of Mourning for the passing of President Jimmy Carter. He also mandated that the U.S. flag be flown at half staff for 30 days, which means that it will remain so during President Trump’s inauguration.
Democrats have turned Biden’s proclamation into one more tool to defame Trump as they grieve the start of his presidency, despite the fact that it is in accordance with tradition and the law.
Democratic strategist Jon Cooper wrote on X that” Jimmy Carter left one final parting gift for Trump after his death.”
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Shirley stifled comparisons between Carter and Biden, especially with regard to the possibility that Biden’s popularity will rise after his election as president.
” Both pursued the same policies and both failed, and both will go down in history as lousy presidents, but Carter, in his defense, was an honest man”, Shirley said. ” Nobody ever accused Jimmy Carter of graft, or malfeasance, or theft, or enriching his family, anything like”.
