President Donald Trump on Saturday hit back at former President Jimmy Carter after Carter suggested Trump was an illegitimate president because of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Carter on Friday told a panel event hosted by The Carter Center, his humanitarian nonprofit, that Trump “lost the election and was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”
Trump responded at a press conference at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
“Jimmy Carter, look, he’s a nice man, he was a terrible president,” said Trump.
“He’s a Democrat and it’s a typical talking point,” Trump added. “He’s loyal to the Democrats and I guess you should be, but as everybody now understands, I won not because of Russia, not because of anybody but myself.”
Check out the clip here:
“I went out, I campaigned better, smarter, harder than Hillary Clinton,” added Trump, who said he was “surprised” that Carter would make such a statement.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller found in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible Trump campaign collusion that the Kremlin had systematically attempted to boost Trump’s candidacy.
Carter on Friday also called the Trump administration’s immigration policies “a disgrace to the United States.” “Every day we send a disgraceful signal around the world, that this is what the president of the United States government stands for,” he said. “And that is torture and kidnapping of little children, separation from their parents and deprivation of those who are incarcerated.”
Watch Trump’s full press conference here: