Jimmy Carter says he hopes to vote for Kamala Harris

By CNN Newsource

Published August 3, 2024 10:18 AM

By Joe Sutton and Kaanita Iyer, CNN

(CNN) — Former President Jimmy Carter, the oldest living president, is hoping to vote for Kamala Harris during the November elections, his grandson said.

“I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris,” the 99-year-old former president said, according to his grandson, Jason Carter, who relayed a conversation Carter had with his son Chip earlier this week to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

CNN has reached out to the Carter Center for a statement.

Carter, who is set to turn 100 on October 1, entered hospice care in February 2023 after a series of hospital stays. Jason Carter said in May the 39th president is “coming to an end” when providing an update on his health.

Carter, a Democrat and one-term president, is a survivor of metastatic brain cancer and liver cancer and underwent a brain surgery after a fall in 2019. The former president is widely revered for his championing of human rights and brokering the Camp David Accords in 1978 between Egypt and Israel.

Carter, a peanut farmer and US Navy lieutenant before entering politics, served one term as governor of Georgia before becoming president.

By the former president’s side was his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, who passed away in November, just days after entering hospice care. The former first lady, a humanitarian and mental health advocate who was an influential figure in the White House, founded the Carter Center with her husband in his post-presidency in hopes of advancing world peace and health.

CNN’s Michelle Shen contributed to this report.