Monday night's "conversation" between Jimmy Carter and Bernie Sanders in Atlanta was notable on several fronts, bringing together a pair of progressive political icons to talk candidly in front of an audience of human rights advocates from around the world.
Sanders (I-Vt) didn’t hold back, taking aim at President Donald Trump ( he ”lies all the time”), the Koch brothers, the fossil fuel industry and others during the Carter Center’s annual Human Rights Defenders Forum.
But it was a quieter aside, in which Carter seemed to say that Sanders had gotten his vote during last year’s Democratic presidential primary, that resonated at least as loudly.
“Can you all see why I voted for him,” Carter chuckled after Sanders had gone on a verbal tear about how higher voter turnout would end Republican dominance.
Video: Carter on Sanders: “Can you all see why I voted for him?”
We say "seemed to" because that was the full extent of Carter's comment -- he didn't specifically mention the primary or eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton -- and he didn't take questions afterwards. Some other media-- as in this Washington Post analysis of the longtime "frosty relationship" between Carter and Bill and Hillary Clinton -- went right ahead and filled in the blanks, writing that Carter had told the audience "that he had voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over the former secretary of state."
Watch the moment for yourself in the video clip above (it comes about 16 seconds in). A sort of "greatest hits" of Monday night's conversation, it was tweeted out on Tuesday by Sanders's official @sensanders account, and retweeted by the Carter Center.
(One other important quibble: While other media reported Carter said "Y'all," those of us with highly developed Southern ears heard the former president say "You all." And the transcription on the clip confirms it!)
You can also watch a full-length replay of the Carter-Sanders appearance on the Carter Center's Facebook page.
