Former President Jimmy Carter reportedly said Friday that a thorough investigation into the matter would find President Trump to have actually lost the 2016 election due to outside interference.
Mr. Carter said during a Carter Center conference on Human Rights that an investigation “would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016.”
“He lost the election and he was put in office because the Russians interfered on his behalf,” he said.
When asked if he’s saying Mr. Trump is an illegitimate president, Mr. Carter replied in the affirmative, “[b]ased on what I said, which I can’t retract.”
The former Democratic president’s comments come after Mr. Trump was asked by reporters at the G-20 summit in Japan if he’d tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to not meddle in future elections.
“Yes of course I will,” Mr. Trump said, turning to Mr. Putin smiling: “Don’t meddle in the election, president. Don’t meddle in the election.”
Mr. Carter also said that the U.S. sends “a terrible signal” every day with our border policy, adding it’s “a disgrace to the United States, and I hope it will soon be ended. Maybe not until the 2020 election.”
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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