Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday he believes he wouldn’t have been able to serve as commander-in-chief past the age of 80.
Carter, who turns 95 on Oct. 1, made the statement while answering audience questions at his annual address at the Carter Center in Atlanta.
“I hope there’s an age limit,” Carter said, but did not single out any of the Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls by name.
Both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders — two front-runners early in the race — would turn 80 years old while in their first presidential term.
“If I were just 80 years old, if I was 15 years younger, I don’t believe I could undertake the duties I experienced when I was president,” Carter added.
The former president was responding to a question about whether he would consider running for another term in office, which he is eligible for because he lost re-election to Republican Ronald Reagan.
Carter added that the office demands a president be “flexible with your mind.”
“You have to be able to go from one subject to another and concentrate on each one adequately and then put them together in a comprehensive way, like I did between Begin and Sadat with the peace agreement,” Carter said, referring to the Camp David Accords.
With Post wires