James Earl Carter made a little news today.

I don’t know if it’s ever happened before, but the 39th president of the United States likely is the first former president to question the legitimacy of the current president.

And to think it came from someone — President Carter — who has said publicly that he prays for Donald Trump to succeed while he is serving as president of the United States. Indeed, Carter recently spoke of a phone call he took from Trump in which the president, according to his predecessor, could not have been more gracious, kind and respectful.

Has the former president turned on the current guy in the White House? President Carter said the Russian attack on our election in 2016 was intended to elect Donald Trump. It succeeded. Without the Russian interference, according to Carter, Trump would have lost the election to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Most remarkable of all, perhaps, is that Vladimir Putin has actually said on the record that he interfered for the expressed purpose of electing Donald Trump.

Therefore, in the former president’s mind, Donald Trump is an “illegitimate” president.

To my way of thinking, the idea that such a condemnation would come from a man of impeccable integrity gives this accusation added gravitas. Of course, one must take into account the undeniable fact that Jimmy Carter likely isn’t privy to the details of what might have occurred while the Russians were attacking our electoral process.

Still, the former president has sounded a stern word of condemnation about one of his presidential successors. We should not dismiss it out of hand.