President Biden revealed Monday that former President Jimmy Carter asked him to eulogize him when he died, before admitting he “shouldn’t say that.”
Biden, 80, made the apparent gaffe during a Democratic Party fundraiser in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., while speaking about the health of Carter, who entered hospice care on Feb. 19.
“I spent time with Jimmy Carter and it finally caught up with him, but they found a way to keep him going a lot longer than expected because they had a breakthrough,” Biden told the audience of about 40 guests. According to the hill.
“He asked me to compliment him,” Biden said, before catching himself and adding, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say that.”
Biden’s comments about the 98-year-old former president’s condition came near the end of his speech, as he launched his Cancer Moonshot initiative and called for more funding. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health – which supports the development of high-impact research that may not be commercially viable.
In August 2015, Carter, who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981, underwent surgery to remove a mass from his liver. Later that month, he held a news conference to reveal that doctors had found melanoma, “four very small spots” on his brain.
After months of treatment, Carter’s doctors said she was officially cancer-free.
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Last month, the Carter Center announced that after a “series of short hospital stays,” the longest-living U.S. president had decided against “further medical intervention” and was receiving home hospice care in Plains, Ga. has been
The center said Carter “has the full support of his family and his medical team.”
White House Press Secretary Karyn Jean-Pierre Noted earlier this month that Biden and Carter “have known each other since 1976,” when Biden became the first elected official outside the Peach State to endorse Carter for president.
Former commander-in-chief and former first lady Roslyn Carter endorsed Biden in pre-recorded remarks at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
“Joe Biden should be our next president, Biden is the right person for this moment in our nation’s history,” Jimmy Carter said.
