"He found a way to make it about himself"— Internet reacts as Donald Trump's message on Jimmy Carter's passing sparks mixed reactions

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, passed away on Sunday, December 29, at the age of 100. As tributes for the late former President began pouring in, Donald Trump’s post for Carter has raised some eyebrows.

The current president-elect took to Truth Social on Sunday and acknowledged Jimmy Carter's contributions to the country's welfare. However, Trump began his message with a note separating himself and the other former presidents from other people. Trump wrote:

"Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History."

Donald Trump's comment came off as rather narcissistic and conceited to some. Ron Filipkowski, a former prosecutor, called Trump out on X over his Jimmy Carter tribute.

"I'm not going to post Trump’s Jimmy Carter message. As I'm sure you already guessed, he found a way to make it about himself," he wrote.

"Of course he did. Everything is always about him,just like every narcissist ever!" another chimed in.

"In other words he’s completely without empathy," another commented.

"He had to point out the “club”. It’s the epitome of good vs evil," said one.

Some said Trump did not write the message, insinuating he probably had someone else post it on his behalf.

"There’s no freaking way he wrote this. If he wrote this it would have been 100% about himself," joked one.

"I guarantee he didn’t even write this anyhow. He could never be the person Jimmy Carter was. Jimmy gave his life for the people of this Country and his family up until he was unable to and in hospice," another commented.

"He did not write this. This was written for him by one of his staff who has a grasp of the English language," wrote one more.

However, some others defended Trump. One X user referred to the term "Trump derangement syndrome", which denotes criticism of the president-elect that his followers deem unreasonable:

"Sounded gracious to me. You have TDS Ron?" the person wrote.

"He did relate himself to Carter, but overall a good message, especially for him. Perhaps we can be a bit charitable about this?" opined another.

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Trump made a seemingly mocking remark about Jimmy Carter in October

Donald Trump credited the late president for his dedication to the country against all odds at a "pivotal time".

"He did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude," Trump wrote.

Donald Trump included Melania as he sent condolences and prayers to the Carter family. He further urged everyone else to keep the late former president's family "in their hearts and prayers".

Trump took an apparent jeering shot at Carter in April while targeting his then-Democratic opponent Joe Biden. He said:

"Biden is the worst president in the history of our country...worse than Jimmy Carter by a long shot."

Donald Trump added:

"Jimmy Carter’s happy because he’s had a brilliant presidency compared to Biden."

Trump later doubled down on his stance at a campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey in May. However, he mistakenly referred to Carter as Jimmy Connors during his speech.