Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at age 100, might have had a lot of bad ideas as president, but he didn't abuse the office the way President Joe Biden has done, Fred Fleitz told Newsmax on Monday.
Carter's presidency is considered by many among the worst in U.S. history, but unlike
Biden, he didn't use his office to enrich his family or go after his political enemies, Fleitz, chief of staff of the National Security Council during the first Trump administration, told "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE."
"In light of the passing of Jimmy Carter, with Carter, we had a bad president who was basically principled," said Fleitz, vice chair for Center for American Security for the America First Policy Institute. "He meant well. He had some really bad ideas. He was really bad on Israel.
"But he didn't use the presidency to enrich himself. There were no shell companies taking millions of dollars from China to enrich his family.
"Joe Biden was a crook, and he was a man who used the presidency to punish his enemies. Carter didn't do that," he said.
"Carter had a lot of failings, but he didn't get rich in the presidency. He didn't try to abuse it to destroy his enemies. He didn't try to use it to amass power.
"People are saying now, 'Well, when we reassess the Biden presidency, we'll see how good it is.' No, we're going to find out how incredibly backward and corrupt this man was," Fleitz said.
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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