Donald Trump isn’t shying away from recent praise by Jimmy Carter, saying the former Democratic president has “good taste” after he chose the business magnate over Sen. Ted Cruz as his favorite GOP candidate.
At a lecture Wednesday in Britain’s House of Lords, Mr. Carter, 91, was asked to give his “assessment” of American politics, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
After predicting that Hillary Clinton would win the Democratic nomination over Sen. Bernard Sanders, Mr. Carter said he would prefer Mr. Trump to win the Republican nomination over Mr. Cruz.
“I think I would choose Trump, which may surprise some of you,” he said. “The reason is, Trump has proven already he’s completely malleable.
“I don’t think he has any fixed [positions] he’d go the White House and fight for. On the other hand, Ted Cruz is not malleable. He has far-right-wing policies he’d pursue if he became president,” Mr. Carter said.
The Cruz campaign has jumped on the comments, using a clip from Mr. Carter’s speech in an anti-Trump ad released Thursday.
Mr. Trump responded to the comments Thursday afternoon, telling ABC News that Mr. Carter has “good taste.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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