Jimmy Carter: Bolton's Support for Strike Against NKorea 'Total Disaster'

New national security adviser John Boltons stated support in the past for a preemptive strike against North Korea would be a "total disaster," former President Jimmy Carter told CBS News.

Such a move, Carter said, "could precipitate a nuclear war, which would be horribly destructive."

President Donald Trump announced last week that Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, would replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser on April 9.

Carter criticized the decision as "very ill-advised," saying, "I think John Bolton has been the worst mistake [Trump has] made."

Carter talked about Boltons reputation as a hawk on foreign policy.

"He's advocated going to war preemptively against North Korea, against Iraq, against Iran even," Carter said. "And so I think that that is particularly ill-advised because the national security adviser, I know from experience, is the most listened-to advice that a president gets ... but I still think that our country can overcome him."

• Carter: Trump Hiring Bolton 'One of the Worst Mistakes'
• Carter Says He Supports Trump's Plan for Talks With Kim Jong Un