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Russia Made Trump an 'Illegitimate' President, Jimmy Carter Says
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By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
June 28, 2019

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ATLANTA โ€” Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday he believes President Donald Trump actually lost the 2016 election and is president only because of Russian interference.

โ€œThere is no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election. And I think the interference, though not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didnโ€™t actually win the election in 2016.โ€ โ€” Jimmy Carter
Carter made the comments during a discussion on human rights at a resort in Leesburg, Virginia, without offering any evidence for his statements.
โ€œThere is no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election,โ€ Carter said. โ€œAnd I think the interference, though not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didnโ€™t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.โ€
The U.S. intelligence community asserted in a 2017 report that Russia had worked to help Trump during the election and to undermine the candidacy of Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

Mueller Report Didnโ€™t Establish Conspiracy

But the intelligence agencies did not assess whether that interference had affected the election or contributed to Trumpโ€™s victory, and no evidence has emerged that votes were changed improperly.
Deanna Congileo, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based Carter Center, declined a request Friday to speak to Carter for further explanation.
Special counsel Robert Muellerโ€™s report identified two criminal schemes by Russia to interfere in the election: the hacking of Democratic email accounts and a social media campaign to spread disinformation online and sway public opinion.
But Muellerโ€™s report did not establish that Russia conspired with any Trump associates in those efforts.
Carterโ€™s comments came during a panel discussion at a retreat for donors to the Carter Center, an organization he founded in 1982 that has been at the forefront of election monitoring efforts around the globe for decades.
Panel moderator and historian Jon Meacham asked Carter if he believed Trump was โ€œan illegitimate president.โ€
Carter replied: โ€œBased on what I just said, which I canโ€™t retract, Iโ€™d say yes.โ€

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