White House Hits Back At Carter Over His Comments About Bush

Sunday, May 20th 2007, 2:36 pm

By: News On 6

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) _ In a biting rebuke, the White House on Sunday dismissed former President Jimmy Carter as ``increasingly irrelevant'' after his harsh criticism of President Bush.

Carter was quoted Saturday as saying ``I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.''

The Georgia Democrat said Bush had overseen an ``overt reversal of America's basic values'' as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own farther, former President George H.W. Bush.

``I think it's sad that President Carter's reckless personal criticism is out there,'' White House spokesman Tony Fratto responded Sunday from Crawford, where Bush spent the weekend.

``I think it's unfortunate,'' Fratto said. ``And I think he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments.''

Carter made the comments to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story that appeared in the newspaper's Saturday editions.

Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo confirmed his comments to The Associated Press on Saturday and declined to elaborate.