Former President Jimmy Carter took an indirect shot at Republican Gov. Nathan Deal’s ethics as he campaigned with grandson Jason Carter before a raucous crowd of supporters here.
At a stop earlier in the day in Dahlonega, Deal pleaded with his Republican supporters to deprive his Democratic rival of a launching pad for higher office.
It was a wild day of campaigning for the gubernatorial candidates as they crisscrossed the state with just eight days left before Election Day.
The former president started his criticism of Deal with an anecdote about his grandson serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in South Africa at the turn of the century, a period in which he met the late anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. Carter said his grandson told him he wanted to meet “a man who went to prison before he was in office.”
“Well, I’m not going to try to say anything about the incumbent governor,” the former president told a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters outside Emmanuel Christian Community Church. “Jason represents honesty, integrity and openness to let the people know what is going on in his own private life as well as his public life when he becomes governor.”
It was the former president’s second appearance on the campaign trail for his grandson, though he’s long played a behind-the-scenes role. The elder Carter didn’t take questions afterward. But his grandson later told reporters the former president was “joking around” about Deal.
“The governor has already bragged about having not been indicted,” Jason Carter said. “But we do need to make sure that we are putting honesty and integrity back in the governor’s office. And the ethical scandals that we have seen under this governor are embarrassing for this state.”
Deal has faced relentless criticism from Carter and his allies over his office’s involvement in an ethics probe into his 2010 campaign. Former ethics staffers claimed in whistleblower complaints that the then-director of the ethics agency bragged about making the complaints disappear. Deal was cleared of all major violations in the 2010 complaints.
The governor said Monday at a campaign stop that he’s done nothing wrong and said he was the only candidate to propose a far-reaching ethics overhaul. The governor said he didn’t know the ethics chief and never ordered her to make the complaints go away. Deal also took a shot at Carter on Monday.
“I’m not going to use this office as a steppingstone,” Deal told a crowd of about 75 people in downtown Dahlonega. “You can believe he will be looking to run for president. Don’t give him a steppingstone or a springboard for higher office.”
Carter said he is focused on serving as Georgia’s governor — for two terms.
“I’m glad that the governor has such faith in my leadership potential,” he told reporters, “but I have absolutely no plans to do anything other than serve this state as the governor to the best of my ability for the full eight years.”
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