Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president any other president certainly than Ive known about said former President Jimmy Carter breaking with his own party and coming to the defense of President Donald Trump in a recent wide-ranging interview with The New York Times.
Carter seemed to ally himself with Trump criticizing the media for its coverage of the new administration.
I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation Carter said.
The Times appeared surprised that Carter was harder on Barack Obama during the interview than he was on Trump. Though Carter said I dont care if Obama gets rich or Clinton gets rich earning 100s of 1000s of dollars for speeches they give.
Carter frowned on making money that way saying
I announced when I was defeated I was not going to be on corporate boards I was not going to try to enrich myself with speeches. I was patterning my policy after Harry Truman Carter said.
The former president noted that both he and his wife Rosalynn voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Primaries and Carter didnt have many kind words to offer the Clintons.In addition the former president also aligned himself with President Trump on the issue of whether or not football players should stand while the national anthem is being played. I think they ought to find a different way to object to demonstrate. I would rather see all the players stand during the American anthem Carter said.When The Times Maureen Dowd compared the Carter Center to the Clinton Foundation Carter bristled. Rosie and I put money in the Carter Center. We never take any out Carter said.
The former president also pushed back against one of the prevailing narratives Democrats and liberal-leaning media outlets have pushed in the days following Trumps astonishing Election Day victory: whether or not the Russians affected voting outcomes.
Carter also said he wasnt bothered with Trumps efforts to cultivate a stronger and more diplomatic relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At the Carter Center Carter said we deal with Putin and the Russians quite frequently concerning Syria.
I dont think theres any evidence that what the Russians did changed enough votes or any votes during the 2016 presidential election.
Carter knocked Obama on his foreign policy as president saying that Obama made some very wonderful statements in my opinion when he first got in office and then he reneged on that.
Although the former president said Trump may be escalating a negative image of the U.S. among the rest of the world he argued I think that precedes Trump saying that Obama refused to talk to North Korea and push for a solution to the nuclear crisis.
