Death of Jimmy Carter

Submission 52

Part of a series on Politics / Government. [View Related Entries]

Overview

The Death of Jimmy Carter refers to the passing of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in late December 2024. He died at the age of 100. Carter's death ushered in a wave of memes and viral posts because Carter's old age had been the subject of internet jokes for some time, evident in the reactions to his 100th Birthday Photo or the Twitter / X gimmick account "Did Jimmy Carter Die Today?" (@DidJimmyDie). The latter incorrectly tweeted "No" on the day of Carter's death which led to its own jokes and memes.

Background

On December 29th, 2024, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100. He was the longest-living U.S. President in history. His cause of death was not immediately provided.^[1]

Online Reaction

On December 29th, 2024, the news was publicized on Twitter / X, like in a tweet^[2] shared by @CNN that received over 17,000 likes in a day. The news also spread to Reddit, like in a post to /r/news^[3] that received over 103,000 upvotes in a day.

Memes about the event surfaced en masse. For instance, on December 29th, X^[4] user @Dispropoganda tweeted a Death and the Dog meme in which Carter asks, "Was I a good president?" receiving over 11,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Also on December 29th, 2024, X^[5] user @PopulismUpdates tweeted about a fake "taped message" from Carter before his death about a "global treasure hunt" to "find the treasure of Jimmy Carter," gaining over 16,000 likes in a day (shown below).

On December 29th, Redditor^[6] Throwawayboi2005 posted a meme to /r/dankmemes that captioned Willem Dafoe Looking Up, "Americans watching as Jimmy Carter's health bar refills in a new color," gaining over 3,000 upvotes in a day (shown below).

On December 29th, 2024, TikToker^[7] @curneishanwilliam posted a video of herself crying with a caption joking about Jimmy Carter being, "Gone too soon," receiving over 187,100 plays and 25,900 likes in a day (shown below).

"Did Jimmy Carter Die Today?" Twitter Account Blunder

On December 29th, 2024, the X account "Did Jimmy Carter Die Today?" (@DidJimmyDie), which had been tweeting, "No," every day that Jimmy Carter was still alive, tweeted, "No," on the day of his death. The tweet was given a Community Note that said, "Yes." In a day, the post received over 704,000 likes (shown below).