[361] Leading up to the general election, Carter criticized the Republican nominee John McCain.[362][363] Carter warned Obama against selecting Clinton as his running mate.[364]
Carter endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination during the primary season of the 2012 presidential election,[365] though he clarified that his backing of Romney was due to him considering the former Massachusetts governor the candidate that could best assure a victory for President Obama.[366] Carter delivered a videotape address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.[367]

The state funeral of George H. W. Bush in December 2018. Carter and his wife Rosalynn can be seen on the far right of the photograph.
Carter was critical of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shortly after the latter entered the primary, predicting that he would lose.[368][369] As the primary continued, Carter stated he would prefer Trump over his main rival Ted Cruz,[370] though he rebuked the Trump campaign in remarks during the primary,[371] and in his address to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Carter believes that Trump would not have been elected without Russia's interference in the 2016 election,[372] and he believes "that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. 