Speaking to reporters during a family vacation in the US Virgin Islands, outgoing US President, Joe Biden drew sharp contrasts between Jimmy Carter’s character and that of Donald Trump, who is set to take over a second term as Commander-in-chief in January.
When asked if there was anything Trump could learn from Carter, Biden remarked, “Decency. Decency. Decency.”
“Can you imagine Jimmy Carter walking by someone who needed something and just keep walking? Can you imagine Jimmy Carter referring to someone by the way they look or the way they talk? I can’t.”
Joe Biden
In remarks delivered hours after Carter’s death on Sunday, December 29, 2024, at age 100, Biden described the former President as a humanitarian, personal friend and a remarkable leader.
He emphasized how Carter’s values reflected on America’s global standing, noting that “the rest of the world looks to us. And he was worth looking to.”
Trump, who has had public disagreements with Carter in the past, released two statements on Sunday praising Carter as “a truly good man” for whom he had the “highest respect” – and describing him as more consequential than most holders of the Oval Office.
“While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our country, and all it stands for. He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect.”
Donald Trump
Trump’s response to Carter’s death was a striking U-turn from recent rhetoric.
In October, on Carter’s 100th birthday, Trump was campaigning Waunakee, Wisconsin, and mocked the former President as “the happiest man” because Biden’s one-term presidency made Carter’s look “brilliant” in comparison.
The relationship between Carter and Trump had long been thorny and featured digs in both directions.
In 2019, Carter suggested Russian interference had handed Trump his 2016 victory, a comment Trump would dismiss at a G20 summit by calling Carter a “nice man” but a “terrible President” and the “forgotten President.”
Carter would later that year warn a second Trump term would spell “disaster” and cited old age as a factor.
Trump ultimately became the oldest person to be elected President when he defeated Kamala Harris in November’s election after losing to Biden in 2020
Funeral, Burial Details Announced For Carter
According to a schedule drawn up by Joe Biden, the sitting US President who is into his last few weeks in office, the state funeral in Washington DC for the late Jimmy Carter will take place on Thursday January 9, 2025.
The date has also been declared at national day of mourning in the United States. There will also be a public service in Atlanta, the capital of Carter’s home state.
The Carter Center, the late President’s organization in Georgia promoting conflict resolution, human rights and democracy, has said that after those official events, Jimmy Carter will be buried in a private service in Plains, his home town in Georgia, where he died.
The US government has ordered, by tradition that American flags will fly at half-staff, or half-mast, on all federal buildings across the country as a mark of respect upon the death of Jimmy Carter.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs requires that after the death of a US President or former President, the Stars and Stripes will fly in its lower position on “all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels” across the US and its territories worldwide.
The tradition is carried out for 30 days, which means flags will be at half-staff when President-elect, Donald Trump is inaugurated in Washington DC on January 20, 2025, and Joe Biden leaves the White House as President for the last time.
