Jimmy Carter: Citizens United ruling 'the most stupid decision that the Supreme Court ever made'

Former President Jimmy Carter blasted the Citizens United ruling that freed corporations and labor unions from restrictions on political spending as "the most stupid decision the Supreme Court ever made" during a radio interview Thursday.

Carter said that the influx of money in politics was responsible for increased hostility and partisan divisiveness in Washington.

"There was a much more harmonious relationship among all people in Washington including Democrats and Republicans and between the House and the Senate and the White House when I was there," Carter told Laura Ingraham. "And I think that this change has taken place in the last 30 years since I left the White House because of the massive infusion of money into the political process and the use of a lot of that money just for negative advertisements to destroy the reputation or the character of your opponent. And that animosity carries over into Washington."

The former president went on to single out the 2010 Citizens United ruling as particularly damaging.

"I think the most stupid decision that the Supreme Court ever made and one of the most damaging was to rule that corporations are people and that major corporations now can give unlimited supplies of money to candidates," Carter said.

Pressed by Ingraham as to whether the ban on corporate giving should also extend to labor unions, Carter agreed, saying he'd prefer to return to the pre-Citizens United system.

"I don’t think either very wealthy people or corporations or unions. I’d like for it to go back to the way it was five or six years ago," Carter said.

Carter also criticized Democrats for adopting a pro-abortion-rights political platform, a move he said alienated many conservatives in the party.

"I’ve signed a public letter calling for the Democratic Party at the next convention to espouse my position on abortion, which is to minimize the need, the requirement for abortion and limit it only to women whose life are in danger or who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest. I think if the Democratic Party would adopt that policy that would be acceptable to a lot of people who are now estranged from our party because of the abortion issue," Carter said.

The former president added that his view on the subject was influenced by his religious beliefs.

"I never have believed that Jesus Christ would approve of abortions," Carter said. "And that was one of the problems I had when I was president having to uphold Roe v. Wade and I did everything I could to minimize the need for abortions. I made it easy to adopt children, for instance, who were unwanted, and also initiated the program called Women and Infant Children or WIC program that’s still in existence now. But except for the times when a mother’s life is in danger or when a pregnancy is caused by rape or incest I would certainly not or never have approved of any abortions."

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