AAP FACTCHECK – Former US president Jimmy Carter has apparently died, according to a statement doing the rounds on social media.
This is false. The statement about the former Democrat president is fake, posted by a user to see if people would fall for sensationalist headlines.
The claim appears in Facebook posts featuring an image resembling an official document titled “The Office of Jimmy Carter” and topped with the US presidential seal.
“Former US President Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, JR.), a passionate champion of human rights, democracy, WWII veteran, and the 39th President of the United States, passed away Tuesday, July 23, at 01:34 a.m at his home in Plains, Georgia, at the age of 99,” the statement says.
Another post featuring the picture says: “RIP Jimmy Carter! Gone To Heaven To Be With Jesus and His Beloved Wife Rosalyn (sic) Carter!”
“So, Jimmy Carter live long enough to see a worse president than him, RIP..” another post says.
Republican Senator Mike Lee reportedly posted the statement on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: “My thoughts and prayers are with his family”.
US far-right internet personality Laura Loomer, also reportedly shared the statement on X.
However, there’s no such statement on the website of the Carter Centre, a not-for-profit founded by the former president and his late wife Rosalynn.
AAP FactCheck traced the statement to an X post, with the caption: “BREAKING — Former President Jimmy Carter has passed away. He was 99 years old.”
Errors and bizarre quotes in the document indicate that it’s not authentic and wasn’t posted by Carter’s family.
For example, the second paragraph criticises Mr Carter’s single term in office, saying he “achieved significant foreign policy accomplishments including: selling the United States out to Panama…”.
Words such as ‘administration’ and ‘being’ have also been misspelled as ‘administation’ and ‘bweing’.
The document includes several vulgar quotes about the late Rosalynn Carter and another former US first lady, Nancy Reagan.
It also claims that Mr Carter’s son Chip said: “He will be sorely missed not only by our family but by the American people and our enemies around the world who thrive today because of his peace-through-weakness agenda”.
The original X post reveals that the statement is a hoax in the image description, which can be accessed by clicking on the “ALT” tab on the picture.
“President Carter is still alive and in hospice care. This was an experiment to see how gullible people are to sensationalist headlines,” it says.
Several hours after publishing the original post, the same user replied, saying: “Big thank you yo (sic) everyone who fell for this. Particularly for proving me right: people only read headlines.”
The Carter Centre confirmed to Reuters Fact Check that it had published no such statement.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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