On Wednesday, Scripps News spoke with Jason Carter, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter and chair of the Carter Center Board of Trustees. He discussed Jimmy Carter's plans to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, the political landscape in Georgia, where Jason was a state senator, and the upcoming 100th birthday celebration planned for his grandfather.
"We're not in charge"
"Here is what we have learned over the last year. When [Jimmy Carter] first went into hospice — it was going to be a matter of days. And here he is 17 months later. And so the one thing that we all know and that he's always believed is he's on this faith journey and we don't know how it's going to turn out. But we do know we're not in charge."
Jimmy Carter has said "that his real goal is to vote for Kamala Harris," Jason said. "That certainly means more to him than a birthday milestone."
On the 2024 election in Georgia
"We truly have a group of people in this state that are willing to make up their minds based on the candidates," Carter said. "This state voted to fire Donald Trump before. I think there's every reason to expect that it will vote fire him again. And I think Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are going to have to come down here and earn some votes, but I think those votes are theirs to be had. There's certainly enough energy. There's a remarkable ground game that President Biden put together. There's 24 offices in this state, all across Georgia, more than we've ever had for a presidential race before. We had 7,000 volunteers signed up since the switch to Vice President Harris. And so we have all the ingredients that we need. And there's that group of voters that that are willing to really look at the candidates that last time voted to fire Donald Trump. And I just think of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz continue on the road that they're on those same voters will vote elect those two."
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Jimmy Carter's upcoming 100th birthday celebration
"Music was always super important to him," Carter said of his grandfather. "And it was important to him because it brings people together. This event is going to be this remarkable eclectic group of artists, as you said, Eric Church, but also we're going to have D-Nice, the DJ. We're going to have [Carter's] good friend, Chuck Leavell from the Allman Brothers, who's been around my grandfather for many, many years. And a host of other folks that I'm excited about: Drive-by Truckers and The War and Treaty. It's going to be at the fox Theater in Atlanta."
"And we just think it's a great way to celebrate him because it's going to be about sort of the richness of America. It's going to benefit the Carter Center, which was his life's work after leaving the presidency. And it's just a really exciting way to pay tribute and sort of how cool he was."
The event will be about "bringing people together in a moment where we think that's important and doing it for a good cause," Carter said. "So we're thrilled by it. And he's excited about it, too."
Watch the full interview with Carter in the video above.
