FACT CHECK: July 23 Letter Announcing Jimmy Carter’s Death Is Fake

An image shared on X claims to show a letter from former President Jimmy Carter’s office announcing his death.

Jimmy Carter passed away at 99.

Is it just me that thinks this guy died like 10 times already? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/iS8uluu2Ya

— Hadessah1776!🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊 (@HKracken) July 23, 2024

Verdict: False

The letter is fake, according to the Carter Center. It appears that the original post lists it as a joke.

Fact Check:

Social media users are posting a letter, claiming that Carter is dead at the age of 99. One user wrote, “Jimmy Carter passed away at 99. Is it just me that thinks this guy died like 10 times already?”

This letter is fake. There has been no official announcement on the Carter Center website nor any announcement on Carter’s verified Facebook account or the Carter Center social media posts.

There are other indications that the letter is fake. For example, it refers to former First Lady Rosalyn Carter, who died recently, as a “baddie” and called former First Lady Nancy Reagan the “throat goat.” It also makes fun of Carter’s foreign policy.

Some “citizen journalists” on this app are sharing a blatantly fake letter from the office of former President Jimmy Carter announcing his death. pic.twitter.com/BWiygfauli

— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) July 23, 2024

A Carter Center spokesperson confirmed to Check Your Fact that the letter was fake in an email. The spokesperson said, “This is false. There has been no announcement or change.” (RELATED: No, Video Does Not Show First Kamala Harris Presidential Ad)

Check Your Fact found what appears to the first posting of the fake letter. The account wrote in the alt-description of the image that “Carter is still alive and in hospice care.”

🚨BREAKING🚨 — Former President Jimmy Carter has passed away. He was 99 years old. pic.twitter.com/nHuaf17uPG

— Boccaccio ✺ (@Bocc_accio) July 23, 2024

“President Carter is still alive and in hospice care. This was an experiment to see how gullible people are to sensationalist headlines,” reads the text located in the “Alt” button.

Among the people and outlets who initially spread the false claim were right-wing journalist Laura Loomer, the New York Post, the Daily Signal and Mario Nawfal.