Apparently there are still some people who care what former President Jimmy Carter thinks about things. These people include MSNBC Live guest host Chris Jansing and MSNBC analyst Rick Stengel.
At an event at the Carter Center, Carter went full conspiracy theorist on the 2016 election. "I think the interference, although not yet quantified, I think fully investigated would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016, he lost the election and he was put in office because the Russians interfered on his behalf," Carter told historian Jon Meacham.
Jansing responded to Carter's conspiracy by simply saying "Wow" and asking Stengel, "What do you make of that? I mean, a lot of Democrats frankly feel that way." Stengel said it was "extraordinary statement" coming from a former president.
Stengel, who before he was Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the Obama Administration, was previously the managing editor of Time when the magazine ran a glowing cover profile of Julian Assange. Now, Stengel is concerned about election security and integrity, but when he was at Time labeled Assange an "idealist" and that the media should not be in the business of caring about national security. "Our job is not to protect the U.S" he declared, "Our job is to publish and be damned."
So what changed for Stengel? Well, for one his preferred candidate lost. Stengel blamed the Russians for suppressing the black vote and for convincing people to vote for Jill Stein:
One of the things I write about in my book that’s coming out this fall, is that the efforts Russia made to repress and suppress the vote, to suppress the black vote, to turn out the vote for Jill Stein. The number of votes that Jill Stein got in Michigan and Pennsylvania were larger than the margin of victory over Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. So, these are the facts I agree with Jimmy Carter
If you are a Democratic candidate and you can't convince liberal and progressive Americans to vote for you, that's not the fault of Russian Twitter trolls.
Here is a transcript for the June 28 show:
MSNBC
MSNBC Live with Craig Melvin
11:25 AM ET
CHRIS JANSING: We have some brand-new comments from Jimmy Carter which I'm sure if they've gotten to him are going to rile the president in raising some eyebrows. He said this just minutes ago.
BEGIN CLIP
JIMMY CARTER: I think the interference, although not yet quantified, I think fully investigated would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016, he lost the election and he was put in office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.
JON MEACHAM: So do you believe President Trump is an illegitimate president?
CARTER: Based on what I just said, which I can't retract.END CLIP
JANSING: Wow. What do you make of that? I mean, a lot of Democrats frankly feel that way.
RICK STENGEL: I mean it's an extraordinary statement from a former --
JANSING: By a former president.
RICK STENGEL: And the answer is we don't, we're not sure. One of the things I write about in my book that’s coming out this fall, is that the efforts Russia made to repress and suppress the vote, to suppress the black vote, to turn out the vote for Jill Stein. The number of votes that Jill Stein got in Michigan and Pennsylvania were larger than the margin of victory over Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. So, these are the facts I agree with Jimmy Carter. It needs to be investigated. We need to try to find out as closely and possible how much influence Russia did have on that election.
