'Throat goat': GOP Sen. Mike Lee 'duped' by hoax letter claiming Jimmy Carter died

On Tuesday morning, July 23, a letter falsely claiming that former President Jimmy Carter had died was circulated online.

But the letter, claiming to be from the "Office of Jimmy Carter" was a hoax — as Carter, now 99, is still alive.

Sen. Mike Lee's (R-Utah) office saw the letter. On X, formerly Twitter, a post from Lee's office read, "Former President Jimmy Carter has died. My thoughts and prayers are with his family."

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Business Insider's Bryan Metzer tweeted a screenshot of the letter and posted, "Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) appears to have been duped by a fake letter announcing Jimmy Carter's death. The fake letter quoted the former president as calling his late wife a 'baddie' and the 'original Brat' who 'throat goat Nancy Reagan had nothing on.'"

Lee, however, wasn't the only one who was fooled by the fake letter. A few websites posted articles on Carter's "death" but pulled them after realizing the letter was a hoax.

Atlanta News First debunked the hoax, reporting, "A widely-circulated letter claiming former President Jimmy Carter has died is a hoax, the Carter Center told Atlanta News First on Tuesday. Spreading on social media platforms like X, the false letter has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people. It includes typos and a satirical quote."

At 99, Carter is the United States' oldest living ex-president and is 18 years older than President Joe Biden, now 81.

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