Fake letter announcing Jimmy Carter’s death fools senator despite red flags

SENATOR Mike Lee has been tricked by a fake letter falsely announcing the death of former President Jimmy Carter.

The Utah senator reposted the hoax to his official account on X Tuesday afternoon despite obvious red flags that the message was false.

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Lee posted an image of the fake message and paid tribute to Carter, who is alive and in hospice at his home in south Georgia.

“Former President Jimmy Carter has died,” Lee falsely reported in his since-deleted post.

“My thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Former President Carter, who served in the White House as the 39th president from 1977 to 1981, became the oldest living former US president when he turned 99 in October.

In February 2023, it was revealed that his health had started to decline and that he entered hospice care.

The former president’s team confirmed that Carter is still in hospice, despite the hoax’s claims, with a statement.

“This letter is false. There has been no announcement or change,” a Carter Center spokesperson told The U.S. Sun.

The fake letter first began circulating on X in a post that has been deleted.

There were obvious red flags that the sexually explicit message was a trick – including numerous typos and the fact that it called Carter’s late wife Rosalynn a “baddie.”

One look at the dupe shows inappropriate references to Rosalynn as well as former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

“Rosalynn was a baddie,” the message falsely quoted Carter as saying, also comparing her to First Lady Jill Biden and former First Lady Melania Trump.

“Jill, Melania, even throat goat Nancy Reagan had nothing on Rosalynn.

“She was the original Brat. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it.”

The sick letter shamelessly echoed Carter’s heartbreaking tribute to Rosalynn that he shared in November announcing her death at age 96 following a battle with dementia.

Most recent update on Jimmy Carter’s health

After former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson Jason shared that the 39th president was in his “final chapter

Jason told Southern Living that the former commander-in-chief is experiencing life as “best he can” without his late wife Rosalynn Carter by his side.

“After 77 years of marriage… I just think none of us really understand what it’s like for him right now,” Jason told the outlet in June.

“We have to embrace that fact, that there’s things about the spirit that you just can’t understand.” 

Jason previously said at a mental health forum in May 2024 that Carter is “doing OK.”

“He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now, and he really is, I think, coming to the end,” he said in the brief update.

“As I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him, and there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end and I think he has been there in that space.”

“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Carter’s statement at the time said.

“She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”

The fake letter also falsely quoted Carter listing “significant foreign policy achievements” including “getting soft on the Soviet Union” and “failing to rescue several hostages from Iran.”

The remarks reference that in the last year of Carter’s presidency, he was faced with the Iran Hostage Crisis, which partially contributed to his failed re-election bid.

Lee’s team has not responded to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.

Earlier this month, Lee fell for another online hoax when he reposted false information on July 5 claiming that President Joe Biden suffered a medical emergency on Air Force One.

The report was unverified and later confirmed to be false.