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Jimmy Carter hopes to live long enough to vote for Kamala Harris

Approaching his 100th birthday, Carter told his son that his support for Harris is keeping him going

Senior Culture Editor

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Former President Jimmy Carter departs after the funeral service for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter at Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Georgia, on November 29, 2023. (ALEX BRANDON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Former President Jimmy Carter departs after the funeral service for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter at Maranatha Baptist Church, in Plains, Georgia, on November 29, 2023. (ALEX BRANDON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Nearing his 100th birthday on October 1, former President Jimmy Carter — who entered hospice care on February 18, 2023 — has revealed one goal at the top of his bucket list, which is to cast his vote for Kamala Harris in her presidential race against Donald Trump

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Carter told his son Chip this week, “I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris.” Having voted in the Georgia primary in May, despite his ailing health, Carter's grandson, Jason Carter, commented at that time on the former president's will to keep going, saying, “He’s not going to miss an election. It’s important to him. I mean, that’s the person he is,” per USA Today

“Vice President Harris has the benefit of being part of this ticket and having been a part of this ticket for the last several months and years," Jason Carter said to Fox 5 Atlanta back in July. "She’s run before nationally; she’s been part of the team that beat Trump last time, and she knows how this works." 

In 2022, Harris was called "Jimmy Carter 2.0" by Fox News commentator Michael Tammero, after her comments regarding there being a "level of malaise" among Americans two years into the pandemic, which some believed was reminiscent of Carter’s “malaise speech” of July 1979.

 

 

 

By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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