‘Terrible president… even worse ex-president’: A nasty little troll has thoughts on President Jimmy Carter, and they’re not positive

Celebrated former president Jimmy Carter passed away at the tail-end of 2024, and the response that followed was almost universally positive.

Almost.

There are bound to be a few detractors in any political figure’s camp, and that’s apparently true of even Carter. Considered among the greatest men to have ever attained the office of the presidency, Carter’s legacy is largely positive. He’s not considered among the best U.S. presidents — in fact, historians consider him among the worst — but his post-presidential career was more than enough to elevate Carter in the minds of many.

But not CNN contributor Scott Jennings, who makes a career out of offering insufferable lip service to the Republican party, typically via notoriously left-leaning new sources. CNN is a favorite, and it was on the network that he openly trashed Carter as “a terrible president” and, despite the praise that’s followed Carter for decades, “an even worse ex-president.”

“His meddling in U.S. foreign policy” is apparently top of the list for Jennings, along with “his saddling up to dictators around the world,” and “his vehement views, anti-Israel views, and more than dabbling in anti-Semitism over the years.”

There are several more factors listed by Jennings, who cites Carter’s supposedly “huge ego” as a major issue in the years following his presidency. As is quickly reinforced by a fellow CNN commentator, Carter’s “meddlesome” nature is well-documented, particularly as it related to his successors in the White House, but most people don’t think “it outweighs the contribution he made as a global citizen.“

Truly, that is the legacy so many Americans recall when Carter’s name is referenced. Not his time as a president, not his time in the post-presidency continuing to insert himself into politics, but as a regular citizen, working to make the world a better place. It is broadly believed that Carter was a much better man than he was a president, and his acts in the decades that followed his terms underline why.

Diplomacy and humanitarian efforts defined the years after Carter left office, as he worked tirelessly — and without further enriching himself — to stabilize relationships between the United States and a number of foreign powers. No man is perfect, of course, and Carter had many flaws, but through it all its generally seen as hugely tactless to heap criticism on a recently-deceased public figure, particularly one as well-liked as Carter.

That’s not likely to slow Jennings’ roll much, given that he’s gleefully promoting his own commentary, despite rampant pushback. Even his right-leaning fans are reacting in distaste to the 47-year-old’s commentary, pointing out that Carter’s reputation disagrees with his takeaways. He was an ineffective president, overall, but he did many great things with the time he had on this Earth, and he didn’t need an Oval Office to get it done.

Its by no means a terrible thing to criticize a former president — all of them have failed in countless ways, even the well-meaning ones — but to drag a man’s name through the mud, despite the clear humility and political courage he displayed through the years, is just a classless move.