Nearly 44 years after Jimmy Carter left the nation's capital in humbling defeat, the 39th president returned to Washington on Tuesday for state funeral rites that featured the kind of bipartisan praise and ceremonial pomp the Georgia Democrat rarely enjoyed at his political peak. The military honor guards, a procession down Pennsylvania Avenue, and a service in the Capitol Rotunda continued public commemorations for Carter, who died Dec. 29 at age 100. Services will continue through his state funeral Thursday at the National Cathedral, before Carter returns to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, for burial beside his late wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died in 2023, the AP reports.
As the sun set outside the Capitol, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune celebrated his faith, military service, and devotion to service more than anything he did in politics. "To be sure, his presidency was not without its challenges and international crises," said Harris, for whom Carter cast his final presidential ballot this fall. But she described him nonetheless as "that all-too-rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty, and grace." The former president will lie in state Tuesday night and again Wednesday before his remains are moved to National Cathedral. There, President Biden will eulogize Carter.
Carter was not met entirely with adulation Tuesday. President-elect Trump, who mocked Carter during the 2024 campaign, criticized him again during a news conference in Florida for ceding control of the Panama Canal. "Jimmy Carter gave it to them for $1 and they were supposed to treat us well. I thought it was a terrible thing to do," Trump said, per Politico, calling the move a "disgrace." Pressed on whether criticism of Carter was appropriate during the solemn national rites, Trump responded, "I liked him as a man. I disagreed with his policies. He thought giving away the Panama Canal was a good thing." "I didn't want to bring up the Panama Canal because of Jimmy Carter's death," Trump added, though he had first mentioned it unprompted. Trump plans to attend Carter's Washington funeral.
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