After a hoax about President Jimmy Carter’s death made the rounds on the internet on Tuesday, it’s clear some people need a refresher on reading comprehension.
When a statement with an official-looking Carter letterhead emerged, some were quick to send their condolences to the 99-year-old former president’s family.
But reading through the supposed announcement, it became more than apparent that the whole thing was a gag.
Two paragraphs in, the announcement lists Carter “selling the United States out to Panama,” “failing to rescue several hostages from Iran” and “getting soft on the Soviet Union” as some of his diplomatic accomplishments.
And farther down, the statement calls Carter’s late wife, Rosalynn Carter, a “baddie” and the “original Brat,” alongside a crass reference to former first lady Nancy Reagan.
But that didn’t stop people from sharing the fake news.
Having clearly skimmed past the absurd sections, the New York Post quickly tweeted, and then deleted, an obituary for the one-term Democratic president.
The Blaze, Free Republic and Scripps News were reportedly duped as well, according to conspiracy fact-checker Snopes.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also appeared to fall for the prank, along with far-right talking head Laura Loomer and White House reporter Simon Ateba.
Lee turned his oopsie into an opportunity to lash out at the media.
Not long after his initial post, he tweeted, “This is why Donald Trump’s term for the MSM—‘fake news’—caught on.”
“It’s not that everything they say is fake, it’s that any objectivity they try to portray is itself fake.”
Carter is still alive, although the Georgia-born politician’s death has been on the horizon for some time.
The former president has been in hospice care for nearly a year and a half, far longer than such end-of-life treatment typically lasts.
The federal Medicare Payment Advisory Commission reported that in 2021, the average stay of hospice patients who died was 92 days.
Carter’s family has also been candid about how much time he has left.
In May, Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, said that the 39th president’s life was “coming to the end.”
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