Jimmy Carter weighs in on Bernie Sanders: 'Can ya'll see why I voted for him?'

Former President Jimmy Carter has revealed he voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party’s primaries last year.

The 39th US President, who served between 1977 and 1981, made the apparent declaration during an event with Mr Sanders at the Carter Centre in Georgia on Monday night.

The talk was billed as a “conversation about human rights” between the two fellow Democrats and it focused on the current state of US politics, human rights and achieving peace worldwide.

Addressing the audience, the Vermont senator discussed strategies to create a grassroots, bottom-up Democrat party and revitalise American democracy by increasing voter turnout. He noted that the US has one of the lowest voter turnouts of any major country on earth.

Mr Sanders added: “So we have got to get people involved and you do that by being honest about the real problems they face and coming up with real solutions getting people involved".

President Carter then interjected: “Can y'all see why I voted for him?”

Carter’s endorsement of the much-loved, dove-haired Democratic Socialist, which prompted gentle laughter from the audience, appears to have been the first time he has revealed his voting choice in the 2016 Democratic primaries.

After Mr Sanders dropped out of the race and Hillary Clinton became the Democrat presidential candidate, Carter announced he would be voting for Ms Clinton in the election. Although he did note the unpopularity of Ms Clinton and her contender Donald Trump.

“It's been an exciting and unprecedented kind of campaign this year, and unfortunately, the way it's turned out, both choices in the major parties are quite unpopular,” Carter said at the time. “But I don't have any doubt that one of the candidates is better qualified than the other.”

Early on in the Democratic nomination race, Carter said he saw Hillary Clinton as “inevitably” becoming the chosen candidate because money dominates politics.

“There won't be any problem with Hillary getting the nomination because money dominates and she has an inside track to the massive amounts that are going to pour into the Democratic party side,” he said.

Carter has remained politically active since leaving office and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the Carter Center which seeks to advance human rights and improve human suffering. His peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts since leaving the White House mean he is widely viewed as one of the most successful ex-Presidents in American history.

Mr Sanders also used the event to air his grievances about President Trump, saying dealing with him was very difficult because he “lies all the time".

“People often ask me, ‘What do you think about what the president said yesterday. It’s hard to answer because his view will be different tomorrow, and very often, factually what he says is just not correct.”

The Independent contacted Carter to see if he would clarify his apparent revelation.