The United States is mourning former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100. According to the Carter Center, the 39th president passed away at his home in Plains, Ga., while surrounded by family.
President Joe Biden announced that Carter’s state funeral will be held in Washington, D.C. on Jan.9. The Carter family also accepted an invitation from Congress for the former president’s body to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda.
Carter’s passing occurred during a low-staffing period for the broadcast and cable news outlets due to the Christmas holiday period. However, the networks had clearly prepared for this situation as they quickly aired tribute packages and provided rolling coverage as the evening continued. (All times Eastern.)
Fox News was the first network to announce Carter’s passing, led by senior national correspondent Rich Edson, at 4:07 p.m. The network initially attributed the news to “reports,” and offered official confirmation at 4:22 p.m.
WATCH: At 4:07pm/ET, Fox News with @RichEdsonDC was the first TV network to break the news of former President Jimmy Carter’s passing today pic.twitter.com/0gUa86vZbj
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) December 29, 2024
Fox News largely stuck with its regular programming for the rest of the evening, airing updates when necessary. However, the network did pre-empt the 5 p.m. edition of Life, Liberty & Levin and aired an extended version of The Big Weekend Show at 7 p.m.
Elsewhere, CNN brought in weekday anchors Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper for its primetime coverage, while MSNBC had Jonathan Capehart anchoring breaking news coverage during primetime. NewsNation aired a special live report at 8 p.m. that was anchored by Blake Burman and looked back on Carter’s life.
Over on the broadcast nets, ABC News aired a special edition of 20/20 entitled Jimmy Carter: A Full Life at 10 p.m.
