Jimmy Carter: I would prefer Trump not be impeached
Source: The Hill
Former President Jimmy Carter said Sunday that he would prefer that President Trump not be impeached, even if special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation exposes wrongdoing on the part of the president.
Carter told CBS's "Sunday Morning" that he believes that the oversight of Congress and the Supreme Court is enough to adequately check Trump's actions in the White House, and removing the president would likely not be necessary.
"But my own preference would be that he not be impeached, but that he be able to serve out his term, because I think he wants to do a good job," he said. "And I'm willing to help him, if I can help him, and give him the benefit of the doubt."
Carter also said that Mueller should be more forthcoming about the state of his investigation by revealing whether he has evidence that Trump broke the law or not.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/380205-jimmy-carter-i-would-prefer-trump-not-be-impeached
Eliot Rosewater
(31,097 posts)StevieM
(10,499 posts)Kris Kobach and Scott Walker come to mind.
We can't keep letting Republicans get away with their deplorable actions.
copperearth
(117 posts)McConnell
Rubio
Cruz
Rick Scott
Dennis Nunez
and on and on
zentrum
(9,865 posts)jaysunb
(11,856 posts)I want him to resign....take the Nixon out and spare the country of what an impeachment does to the people.
onetexan
(12,994 posts)he needs to be dragged out of office kicking and screaming, an prosecuted to the fullest extent, him and his enablers. The new Congress then needs to pass laws to ensure such a horrific scenario never happens again that a man so grossly unqualified can ever hold the highest office of the land.
metalbot
(1,058 posts)Congress doesn't have the legal power to impose new qualifications on someone being president. Even had Trump been indicted for money laundering with the Russians 20 years ago, he'd still be eligible to run, to make outrageous promises to his supporters, and to call his opponents names.
NYC Liberal
(20,132 posts)Completely constitutional, since states are not even required to hold a popular vote for choosing electors.
metalbot
(1,058 posts)NYC Liberal
(20,132 posts)Last edited Tue Mar 27, 2018, 10:48 AM - Edit history (1)
like releasing tax returns, to protect against conflicts of interest that could seriously endanger the country. Like we are seeing right now.
If someone doesnt want to do that, theyre welcome to run a write-in campaign.
metalbot
(1,058 posts)1. Could a state have special requirements standards for proving someone to be a citizen before they could be on a ballot?
2. Could a state require a presidential candidate to have a college degree in order to ensure that some idiot doesn't become president?
3. Could a state require other tests for fitness of office? Maybe have candidates do some basic economics tests?
4. Could a state require a medical exam that would be publicly available for anyone running for a federal office?
5. Could a state require someone to be a land owner in order to appear on a federal ballot in order to ensure that they have a vested interest in ensuring property rights?
I'm sure you see where this goes...
lunamagica
(9,967 posts)I, for one, would LOVE to see justice done.
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)but, there will never be enough votes in the Senate to convict, and it would leave us--politically-- right where we are. Resignation is as good as an admission of guilt, that even "some" of his most ardent cult members would be forced to accept. Remember, we've got to live with these people long after trump is exposed and banished.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Look up his mentor and watch a documentary on Trump's rise to "power" in NY. It's eye opening. He will never resign from anything. He will never admit wrongdoing. This is why he lies: If you say it, they'll believe it (he has said).
He's the sort who believes he's entitled. I'm not being ugly about him. This is who the man is. An enormous ego the likes of which we haven't seen since some of the all-powerful Kings and dictators.
Cohn got Stone/Manafort & Trump together. All of them operated in the same way. Cohn had ties with the mob, also.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/donald-trump-roy-cohn-relationship
If you read that article fully, you will understand that Trump will never resign. Never. Ever. Even if he were impeached, he'd fight it to the end, appealing to the Supreme Court (enter Alan Dershowitz, who wants that job).
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)It's similar to the choice Nixon was faced with. A group of key Repubs goes to Trump, tells him the goods that they have on him, that he WILL be definitely impeached and possibly criminal charges will be sought by others....or he can resign to save face. He'll walk free, since he's saving the country from having to criminally prosecute him or go thru impeachment proceedings.
I can see Trump resigning under those conditions. He would spin it, saying it was his choice, that he "won" and is going back to his business that needs his attention, etc.
But until and unless it comes to that, he won't resign. He wouldn't resign under a threat from the Mueller investigation, what Mueller might be finding out, or others who may be appointed. He would resign only under a sink or swim scenario, like a cornered animal given only one way out. Even then, he might not take the out...he might decide to stay in office. It depends on if his attorneys would desert him at that point.
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)but he's often thought very differently from most politicians and most voters.
He knows Trump has mental issues and that he cannot be a responsible president. He's willing to help him, huh? If he believed that he could help run Trump's presidency for him, and he just may, that'd be pretty astonishing.
President Carter should first help himself. As you can tell, I'm not fond of his bad political side. This is a man who badmouthed both Obama and Clinton during the 2015-2016 campaign but wouldn't and won't speak against Trump.
Frankly, I've always thought there was more than a little bit of the zealot's contempt for those who don't share his wisdom in Carter. As we know too well, left-wing zealots are usually too full of contempt for Democrats to have passion left over for Republicans.
Notably, Carter had some real political abilities that got him into the oval office by doing an end run around a Democratic establishment that thought he'd be a terrible president (much as Sanders attempted to do). But once in office Carter's overweaning righteousness and inability to play well with others often sabotaged what he wanted to achieve. A faint but real similarity to Trump's problems of course.
During Carter's single term, both chambers of congress were controlled by Democrats -- who, in spite of and because of constantly having to wrestle with a president of their own party, deserve credit for much of what the Carter presidency did manage to accomplish in his partially failed 4 years.
And now, once again, he's speaking against Democrats (who else would impeach?) even if Trump were guilty of serious crimes and, what? Is he imagining that in Trump he'd finally have someone who'd listen to him after 40 years out of office?
I'm from Georgia, I am proud and admiring of the good works that are also his product. The ridiculous image of this very intolerant, righteous crank trying to direct an explosively unstable Trump should make me laugh and shrug, but I OD'd for the last time on Carter's contrarian nonsense during the 2016 campaign.
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)sandals over black socks.
LiberalFighter
(50,502 posts)I would go with impeachment.
Liberalagogo
(1,770 posts)Last edited Sun Mar 25, 2018, 06:56 PM - Edit history (2)
He was too nice to be President and he's too nice now. Time for been nice has past a LOOONNGGG tiem ago.
And my reply to the person that flames me gets deleted, but not there's...What a surprise.
FakeNoose
(32,351 posts)Trump has done way too much damage and we've learned about all the treasonous activities, the emoluments, the lies, and what have you. There's still a lot more we haven't learned, but it will come out. Carter is being way to soft on him.
No - we need to see Cheeto perp walked. We need to see him locked up.
charlottescot
(5 posts)"He was too nice to be President and he's too nice now"
He was never TOO NICE.
We have just lowered our standard for civility too much.
How sad to say Jimmy Carter is "losing it" NO, friend, you are the one who has lost it. Jimmy Carter has never wavered from his (my) principles and values.
Response to charlottescot (Reply #34)
Jake Stern This message was self-deleted by its author.
Response to charlottescot (Reply #34)
Post removed
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Politics is a cutthroat business. If you're all nicey nice, while others are tryng to slit your throat, you are being naive. And that means you're not a good politician. Being a politician and being a good governor are two different things.
Yes, he has lost what little savvy he had. It's hard to know why he has become a Trumper. He hasn't explained it. Did Trump contribute a lot of money to his campaigns in the past? I wonder.
Would be interesting to research that.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Bingo. Carter insisted on running for re-election, although he was immensely unpopular and the U S economy was in terrible shape. Reagan, the "movie star," was his opponent.
Trump contributed to Carter, not Reagan. Trump supported him. So Carter is supporting Trump. It's that simple.
Reagan went on to win in a landslide.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)We can agree on that, also that his, your and my avowed principles are pretty much the same.
His avowed principles and goals versus the ways he imagines HE would achieve them in spite of the awful Democratic Party are two very different things. And in that lies his many faults as a political leader.
Carter's never apologized for his constant criticisms and badmouthing of Obama and Hillary for 8 years, including during the campaigns. I believe 100% that he saw them both as sadly inferior to what he could offer if they would only allow him to guide them. And he has offered to guide other presidents many times over the years. He seemingly has no regrets at this shockingly irresponsible and clueless behavior, except how could anyone with his political instincts be clueless about the harm he was doing? He couldn't.
Now he clearly sees himself as ready and able to save America from what he has no shame in helping bring on. Wonder what Carter's multiplier effect at the polls was in 2016. Nader's very similar in that his only regret to this day is that he didn't get more votes. Sanders seemingly has none either and believes his role in the 2016 election reflected right decisions.
These perverse, destructive acting outs of avowed principles need a psychologist to explain, because what they made happen bears no resemblance to what they claim to want.
DRoseDARs
(6,810 posts)Wtf? Even the other living former presidents recognize how dangerous this administration is and have either kept quiet, taken subtle jabs, or made appeals to our better angels in contrast to what this administration is doing.
onetexan
(12,994 posts)meadowlark5
(2,795 posts)When people of all political persuasions were saying after Trump was elected that they didn't want him to fail. They wanted him to succeed. I thought, Really? For Trump to be successful and succeed meant a lot of people would be hurt.
I want Trump to fail bigly. I want him impeached and/or thrown in prison. No one should help him including Jimmy Carter. Trump is the quintessential deplorable. They are right, their opinion is right and the only one and it should be foisted on the country for their own good.
BigmanPigman
(51,432 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)still_one
(91,962 posts)in something, no matter the circumstances, and that not only made him appear indecisive, by led to very bad decisions, some times at the expense of hurting someone else.
It is not wise to give racists, sexists, and bigots the benefit of the doubt.
It makes for very bad judgement, as evidenced by much of his presidency
Xipe Totec
(43,872 posts)Snoopy 7
(522 posts)I have always admired PJC but not always agreed with him. On this issue I'm against his opinion only because when you look at all the wrong doings of the Republican Party since the years of Saint Ronnie (lol crook). The Republican Party has gotten significantly worse, more laws have been broken, gerrymandering/environment/voting/security/regular governmental order/ has been attacked on a steady basis. I believe we need to push the eject button and expel all the crooked republicans, and we know who they are, let them regroup and pay for their past wrong doings. I know PJC believes he is right but he should remember how Regan screwed him over during their presidential run.
rzemanfl
(29,540 posts)OneBro
(1,159 posts)Never-mind. I am sooooo gonna steak that. 😂
rzemanfl
(29,540 posts)GeorgeHayduke
(1,227 posts)Va Lefty
(6,252 posts)maybe he's too good of a man to conceive of such a mean spirited, narcissistic, prick in the White House. Otherwise, I got nothing.
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)You're trying to appease sharks by offering them more blood.
Turbineguy
(37,212 posts)for trump it would be the greater punishment.
Everything he does and says vetted by a congressional committee and the Supreme Court.
BeyondGeography
(39,284 posts)would give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt. Just saying.
brush
(53,473 posts)IMPEACH HIS ASS ASAP.
Vinca
(50,170 posts)chuckstevens
(1,201 posts)WTF will EVER qualify for high crimes and misdemeanors?
bucolic_frolic
(42,676 posts)Former Presidents are relluctant to eviscerate their successors. It's an elite gentlemen's club
It won't be impeachment until we're there. We can't make it happen if our leaders scream at the top of their lungs. Yet.
kacekwl
(6,994 posts)has long passed. The MAN is a menace and a criminal.
NCjack
(10,279 posts)Texin
(2,585 posts)The only thing that matters to Cheeto is serving his ego and fattening his bank accounts. The moron has just put the most dangerous neocon ideologue in the single most dangerous place he could be put in - and the Senate has no power to prevent it. Pompeo and Bolton are going to create a war because Shitler wants to get one on. He's said that a war would guarantee his reelection and keep the congress in the rethugs' hands for its duration. This country needs to be shed of him and his appointed raving neocons and Wall Street carpetbaggers. Any method is okay with me.
vi5
(13,305 posts)...he's just being the wonderful, kind-hearted man he always has been.
I don't want Trump impeached between now and November since I don't want his base to be motivated to get out and vote or pull more shenanigans than they already will.
And after we have a Dem House and Senate he's right that checks and balances of a Dem Congress should (ShOULD...in theory) be enough. With a Dem House and senate I'd much rather President Trump than a President Pence. Pence would have the same policies, only he'd make them seem reasonable, and I'm afraid would too easily con many a Democrat who wants to seem "reasonable" and "bipartisan" into the same stuff that Trump would never be able to because he's so obviously unhinged.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)Thank you, that's exactly how I see it. I believe that Pence represents a greater danger - a true zealot instead of scatterbrained moron.
Silver1
(721 posts)November is critical. I fear the cunning, fundamentalist Pence would be worse, more dangerous. Although Carter didn't say so, maybe he's alluding to it.
Clarity2
(1,009 posts)That that we have a russian president in the whitehouse, who is in danger of bringing us nuclear war. Seriously?
Mike Nelson
(9,903 posts)...probably the most Christian President in the modern era (FDR+). He was way too good for the office.
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)Forget the grace Jimmy.
John Fante
(3,479 posts)of not bashing the current administration, fine. But don't praise the asshole either. Trump does NOT want to do a good job.
If he wanted to do a good job, he would have learned the basics of governing back in 2015. If he cared, he would show up to work early every day, not 11am. And he wanted to do well, he definitely wouldn't spend so much time golfing on our dime.
Trump is in this for the notoriety, the money, and the praise. Nothing more.
As for Mueller being more forthcoming - ask any criminal investigator if publicly tipping your hand is a good idea. They'll laugh in your face.
MFM008
(19,776 posts)You cannot use a normal measuring stick up against the Russian plant in office.
He is a danger, a spy and a traitor and must be looked
At as such.
BlueStater
(7,596 posts)Jesus Christ on a cross.
What the hell happened to him? He was much more critical of Bush than he's ever been of the orange asshole.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)I can't imagine Mr. Rogers uttering an unkind word about Trump, or ANYONE, for that matter.
It's nice that we have people like that, but they are, frankly, a little out of touch with reality.
Neema
(1,151 posts)Sorry Jimmy.
joanbarnes
(1,715 posts)checks and balances are not working.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)At least since Trump became president.
Hm...
humbled_opinion
(4,423 posts)It is going to be hard enough to try and get back some semblance of normal governance after this idiot is tossed. If we wait and let the people do it via election he may have caused even more unrecoverable damage, and he will get to tell his side of the story to the remaining sycophants, who knows what kind of dog whistles will be used to cause serious damage in the country.
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)mobeau69
(11,078 posts)riversedge
(69,723 posts)who are destroying our water, land air and health care. There is litter oversight by congress. You are wrong on this one.
....Carter told CBS's "Sunday Morning" that he believes that the oversight of Congress and the Supreme Court is enough to adequately check Trump's actions in the White House, and removing the president would likely not be necessary.
Steven Maurer
(455 posts)Trump, right now, is a boat anchor around the necks of the GOP. Because unlike them, he's too stupid to do as they do, and successfully conceal his malevolence.
There are millions of GOP leaning independents who are finally waking up to what they've been supporting all these years. Millions more lazy Democrats who are realizing that good governance doesn't happen without their getting off their asses and actually voting.
Why would we ever do the GOP the favor of cutting loose their boat anchor? All them to go back to pretending that they have any moral values whatsoever?
tanyev
(42,360 posts)One year and two months in, and no effing oversight from this GOP Congress. If Dems can't take at least one branch in November, the GOP is going to lay waste to this country.
Raster
(20,996 posts)...and present danger to our Country. We CANNOT count on the Rethuglicans in Congress to do the right thing. I suspect many of them are being blackmailed by Russia. The Supreme Court is just a partisan, Rethuglican hot-mess that cannot be depended on to do anything except protect the best interests of their owners.
No, President Carter, IMPEACHMENT is the solution.
Kablooie
(18,571 posts)And his nature is always to give others the benefit of the doubt.
Once the full charges are revealed he might change that opinion.
CozyMystery
(652 posts)SayItLoud
(1,696 posts)money laundering, emoluments violation, abuse of women, and lying to America are OK with Jimmy one term I guess. Sad!
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)you can bet they will try to use it to rally their base around it if we try to do it.
Keeping Trump in office however is helpful as he can be used as an anchor to tie around the neck of ever single Repugnant.
bluestarone
(16,721 posts)I completely DISAGREE!!!!! We DO NOT need the RUSSIA involved in our white house for the next two years!! GET THE FUCKER OUT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)It's quite understandable that he would be missing a few details regarding Russia, collusion, treason, pay for play, backmail, slander, lying, theft (of the Oval Office), etc...
BigOleDummy
(2,260 posts)Last edited Sun Mar 25, 2018, 08:35 PM - Edit history (1)
.... as I hadn't seen this thread . I'll go see if I can delete it as the topic is covered already.
I worked for Mr. Carter's campaign as a volunteer phone bank worker. But I cannot believe what I read when he said this. I am totally dismayed to tell you the truth.
Well, I went back to delete it but it already had a bunch of comments so I left it. Sorry for the double post. I agree with the majority of the comments here too. I do NOT understand his reasoning behind those comments. These are not normal times and we are not dealing with normal people so normal responses are so much wasted energy.
no_hypocrisy
(45,774 posts)Look and look hard. Would you have wanted Richard Nixon to serve out HIS term ? ? ?
dflprincess
(28,057 posts)RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)Trump wants to do a good job. Trump's ONLY concern is LOOKING like he's doing / done a good job -- just like on TV. That's it. And enriching himself. He has literally NO interest in ACTUALLY doing a good job. In fact, he wouldn't know what that looked like.
I am really disappointed in Carter, but I'll chalk it up to his own good nature and not having enough time or whatever to see how much destruction Trump has already wrought on our nation.
And what doesn't he understand about the Russia thing?? Sheesh -- there's enough circumstantial evidence already out there to convict about 40 people already. (I mean, many people get convincted on circumstantial evidence alone, many even going to the death chamber entirely on circumstantial evidence -- there's enough out there re Trump alone to convict about 40 people of various things.)
paleotn
(17,781 posts)I respect you, but you are wrong on this. He will cause far more damage in office than if impeached, regardless of whether Dems take over Congress.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)In some respects, Pence is more dangerous since he is at least minimally competent and would seem quite reasonable after Trump to a lot of people even as he did things as bad or worse.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)I wonder what the deal is there, why they are bffs. Could it be that Trump is giving the shaft to people that Carter holds a grudge against? Or is it because, as a former President, he doesn't want to see anything that affects the power of the Presidency?
Not sure if we'll ever know. It's strange. Like Trump's relationship with Putin.
Yavin4
(35,357 posts)President Carter, you're seeing what you want to see in Trump, not what's actually there. This is how con men work, and Trump may be the best con man of all time.
50 Shades Of Blue
(9,776 posts)zentrum
(9,865 posts)
.is remembered as being one of mush.
His word for it was "malaise". But it was mush.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,535 posts)No. Jimmy....just no.
Javaman
(62,439 posts)and to take all the neo-libs, neo-cons and hard line conservatives with him. I want their lobbyists to be implicated, their donors to be neutered and the earth on which the repukes have walked salted.
then I want every single god damn school in this nation to teach the children exactly what happened and why; every single year they are in public school.
Then I want all the colleges and universities to set up required classes regarding how the repukes destroyed this nation.
That is the only way we rid this nation of the stain, shame and outright criminality of these types of political criminal enterprise.
elmac
(4,642 posts)not only is he a sociopath but a religious fanatic too, a dangerous combination.
BlueTsunami2018
(3,461 posts)The way to get Тяцмр to consider you for anything is to flatter him. Carter is no fool, he also knows Тяцмр is an albatross around the neck of the GOP.
Call me crazy but theres more here than what is on the face.
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)If Mr Trump has knowingly engaged in criminal activity, then he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
-- Mal
honest.abe
(8,556 posts)We must remove him as soon as we possibly can before he finds a way into becoming America's first Dictator.