Jimmy Carter is baffled by Trump's lies


President Trump has made 2,369 false statements as president as of Tuesday, per The Toronto Star's count. Former President Jimmy Carter thinks he never "deliberately" made any while he was in office.
In a segment of a CBS This Morning interview that aired Tuesday, the former president discussed building houses for Habitat for Humanity — and the current president's untrustworthy track record. While Carter gently reminded viewers that he was "not here to criticize the president," he did have some strong words for Trump's "deplorable" disregard for the truth.
Telling the truth is "pretty deeply ingrained," Carter said of himself. "I think I went through my campaign and my presidency without ever lying to the people or making a deliberately false statement," which makes it "even more deplorable" that President Trump has "abandoned" the virtue. But Carter prefers to pray for the president rather than criticize him, saying he hopes "America will learn from its mistakes" and eventually "elect the best person."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In another snippet of the interview, Carter heaped praise on the late Sen. John McCain for his "commitment to the truth," showing how strongly Carter believes that honesty is the best policy. Watch Carter don a construction hat and discuss the president on CBS This Morning below. Kathryn Krawczyk
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
'Art is one of humanity's great empathic mediums'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Can Trump's team make the MAGA playbook work for Albania's elections?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The architects of the president's 2024 victory are looking east to extend their populist reach
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Carney and Trump come face-to-face as bilateral tensions mount
IN THE SPOTLIGHT For his first sit-down with an unpredictable frenemy, the Canadian prime minister elected on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment tried for an awkward detente
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members