Jimmy Carter to skip Trump inauguration due to declining health but would go if he could
USA TODAY1d
Former President Jimmy Carter would attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in January - were it not for health issues, a spokesperson for the Carter Center told USA TODAY.
The 100-year-old has been in hospice care for nearly two years. In 2015, he was diagnosed with cancer that spread to his brain.
So far, the 39th president of the United States is the only living ex-president to signal his willingness to be there for the second inauguration ceremony in the country's history where a former president is returning to the White House. President Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897.
The Carter Center's response comes as many Democrats told USA TODAY they are still trying to make decisions on whether to snub Trump or show up for the event. The offices of former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama responded to say they had no scheduling announcements to share yet on Trump's inauguration, while representatives for former President Bill Clinton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bill Clinton said recently during an appearance on "The View" he thinks Trump won "fair and square" this year and called for a peaceful transfer of power from a Democratic to Republican White House.
"I do not think we should just be jamming them, even though they do that to us a lot," Clinton told hosts of the talk show Wednesday. "I think it's a mistake." Former First Lady Hillary Clinton was the Democratic nominee who lost to Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
Nearly all of Trump's predecessors were in attendance when the 45th president took his first oath of office in January of 2017, including Carter, who was first among the coalition to RSVP then. George H.W. Bush, who died in 2018, did not attend Trump inaugural when he was 92-years-old due to his age and poor health.
Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, missed their first inauguration four years ago, when President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in. Rosalynn Carter died November 2023 at the age of 96.
Biden has so far followed precedent during the transition by inviting Trump − who broke norms four years ago by skipping Biden's inauguration − for a meeting last month at the White House. The outgoing president will attend Trump's inauguration, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said just days before the November election where the Republican defeated Harris.