Peter Baker of The New York Times tells us that Jimmy Carter is doing fine after his most recent health scare:
Former President Jimmy Carter underwent surgery for a broken hip on Monday after falling at his home in Plains, Ga., his office said.
Mr. Carter, 94, the longest-living president in American history, was recovering from the operation at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., with his wife, Rosalynn, at his side, the office said in a statement.
The statement, issued by Deanna Congileo, his press secretary, quoted his surgeon as saying the operation was successful.
What was Carter doing when he had the fall? Baker tells us:
Mr. Carter was leaving home to go turkey hunting when he fell, according to the statement.
“President Carter said his main concern is that turkey season ends this week, and he has not reached his limit,” the statement said. “He hopes the State of Georgia will allow him to roll over the unused limit to next year.”
I'm impressed.
But then we're informed that the current president of the United States has weighed in -- and Peter Baker just can't help himself. He has to normalize Trump:
President Trump, who has said good things about Mr. Carter in the past, posted a message on Twitter expressing hope for the former president.
(Emphasis added.)
Oh yeah, Trump has been very nice to Carter. He regularly says wonderful things about the Carter presidency.
Yes, there was this:
But that was after Carter criticized media coverage of Trump:
“I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I’ve known about,” Carter told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. "I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation.”
Carter also defended Trump against claims that the current president's aggressive style is souring U.S. relations with the world. “Well, he might be escalating it but I think that precedes Trump,” he told the Times. “The United States has been the dominant character in the whole world and now we’re not anymore. And we’re not going to be. Russia’s coming back and India and China are coming forward.”
Trump would be temporarily nice to his worst enemies -- Hillary Clinton or Rosie O'Donnell -- if they were quoted in the media this way.
If Baker wants to bring up Trump's previous opinions of Carter, he shouldn't limit himself to the positive ones. This is a light story, but that doesn't mean a New York Times reporter should have license to get it wrong.
Published with permission from No More Mr. Nice Blog
