Jimmy Carter’s grandson says his grandfather’s ‘engaged in the news’ as he approaches 100th birthday
Jason Carter, former President Jimmy Carter’s eldest grandson, said his grandfather is “really physically diminished” after spending over 18 months in hospice care, but he’s still keeping tabs on the 2024 election as he approaches his 100th birthday.
Jason Carter told USA TODAY the former president “doesn't do much on his own physically” these days. But in recent months, “he's really gotten more engaged in the news and what's sort of going on around the family.”
“He obviously is following American politics. He's following the situation in Gaza. Those are both things that are very close to his heart,” he added.
Carter's continued focus on the Middle East doesn't come as a surprise. During his term in the White House, the former president helped forge the Camp David Accords, paving the way for a peace deal between Israel and Egypt. The Carter Center, the international humanitarian organization Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter established in the 1980s, called for a cease-fire in Gaza last year in the war between Israel and Hamas.
But domestically, the former president has also told family that, as he’s approaching his milestone 100th birthday on Oct. 1, he’s hoping to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the pivotal 2024 election.
Earlier this month, Jason Carter, chair of the Carter Center's Board of Trustees, addressed the Democratic convention, saying the former president wished he could have attended the convention in Chicago, but felt Harris has carried on his legacy.
Jason Carter said Thursday it’s a message he wanted to share this year because “My grandfather's legacy, in politics, has been one first and foremost of integrity and honesty and a desire to respect people from across all parts of the political divides and the country.”
He also criticized former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, accusing him of abandoning those values.
“Bringing people together and telling the truth and facing the facts for real and putting regular people at the center of the story is what my grandfather has been about. And for me, it's what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are about,” Jason Carter said.
Jason Carter said Harris called the Carter family multiple times after Jimmy Carter entered hospice care and Rosalynn Carter’s death last year: “Not as a politician, but just as somebody who is extending her condolences and appreciation and admiration.”
“She wasn't getting a supporter by calling me, but it did just show a level of humanity and empathy that I appreciated personally,” he added.
A milestone birthday concert
The Democratic convention isn't the only major event the Carter family has planned for this year.
The Carter Center is holding a concert on Sept. 17 honoring the former president’s milestone birthday, which will include musicians ranging from D-Nice to the Drive-By Truckers and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus.
Jason Carter told USA TODAY that a concert felt like a natural tribute.
“Music has always been really important to my grandfather, both sort of personally, as a way that he learned about the world in different ways, but also as something that brings people together,” Jason Carter said, noting Jimmy Carter's long-time appreciation of artists such as the Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmy Carter following election as he approaches 100th birthday