Jimmy Carter Says He Is ‘Absolutely and Completely at Ease’ with Death

Former President Jimmy Carter said Sunday during a church service in Plains, Georgia, that he “was absolutely and completely at ease with death” after doctors informed him in 2015 that his cancer had spread to his brain.

“I assumed, naturally, that I was going to die very quickly,” the 39th president said while delivering a church sermon. “I obviously prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death.”

“It didn’t really matter to me whether I died or lived,” Carter added. “Except I was going to miss my family, and miss the work at the Carter Center and miss teaching your Sunday school service sometimes and so forth. All those delightful things.”

Last month, Carter experienced a fall in his Georgia home and was hospitalized. Carter, who is the oldest living former president in U.S. history, fractured his pelvis but was treated and released by the hospital shortly after.

In September, Carter strongly criticized President Donald Trump, saying it would be a “disaster” if he were to get reelected in 2020.

“It would be a disaster to have four more years of Trump,” Carter said at the time. “I voted for Bernie the last time. But one of the major factors I have in my mind is who can beat Trump.”

Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, also shared her thoughts on President Trump at that time and said, “I think we need a new president.”

“I am so disturbed about white power. He says he is not a racist and maybe he is not,” she added of Trump. “But some of the things he says encourages racism.”