Jimmy Carter, 99, Is Still Alive Despite Death Hoax
Jimmy Carter is not dead, contrary to recent rumors.
After the former U.S. President, 99, was the target of a death hoax, his doctor set the record straight.
"I can confirm that the reports out there are not true," Dr. Michael Raines, the Carter family's physician, told Georgia TV station WALB in comments posted July 23. "He is doing as well as can be expected being in hospice, but he has not passed away."
The death hoax comes more than a year after Carter entered hospice care at his Georgia home. His doctor said the retired politician "has not had any significant health issues in the last three or four weeks. Or since the last time I saw him, and I am on the way there today to reevaluate him and make my usual visit with him."
The death rumors began after a photo of an official-looking fake letter stating Carter had “passed away” at his home on July 23 was shared on X. The creator of the post had themselves admitted the letter was fake after it went viral hours later.
Big thank you yo [sic] everyone who fell for this," they tweeted, "Particularly for proving me right: people only read headlines."
They had also included a hidden message in the image's alt text, noting, "President Carter is still alive and in hospice care. This was an experiment to see how gullible people are to sensationlist headlines."
Of course, within the letter itself, there were clues it was a fake as it contained a typo and also contained a quote attributed to Carter in which he allegedly referred to his late wife Roslyn Carter, who died in 2023 at age 96, as a "baddie" and, referencing Charli XCX’s latest album, "the original Brat."
As for why the social media user created the letter in the first place, they admitted it came amid new rumors about President Joe Biden, which followed his July 21 announcement that he was dropping his 2024 re-election bid and is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate.
“The amount of misinformation which spread throughout the weekend surrounding the state of President Biden’s health was maddening," the poster told Reuters July 23. "I wanted to prove that many people on X often spread sensationalist news and headlines without actually fact checking or double checking the source content.”
The person added, "I have no ill will towards President Carter and his family, and I admire him greatly for his service to our nation and efforts to promote democracy around the world."
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