Talking to the 93-year old former president Friday, host Stephen Colbert noted that Carter, during his time as president, had an image of a "nice guy," while his predecessor Nixon acted like a "son of a bitch." Colbert noted that Carter has been criticized for his demeanor and asked whether US voters wanted "a kind of jerk" for their president.
"Apparently, from this recent election, yes," Carter replied, sparking laughter from the audience.
At the same time, Carter acknowledged that he prays for Trump.
"I pray that he'll be a good president and that he'll keep our country at peace; and that he'll refrain from using nuclear weapons and that he'll promote human rights," Carter said.
"But it is true, I did that," Carter admitted.
On a more serious note, Carter strongly criticized the use of US-imposed sanctions on foreign countries.
"When we impose sanctions, we become responsible for anything that goes wrong in that country," he said, noting that countries under sanction, including Cuba and North Korea, see burgeoning humanitarian problems, like food shortages, and US sanctions only make the problems more acute and "hurt the people."
Colbert displayed Carter's latest book, in which the former US president expressed concerns that racial and other cultural divisions among Americans have gotten worse since Trump was elected in 2016.