Trump Weaponizes Jenny and Billy Carter’s Tragic Romance as Political Propaganda

In a tragic intersection of love and loss, a newlywed couple’s story has been thrust into a national political spotlight after their lives were cut short on an Oregon highway last month.

Jennifer Lower Carter and William Carter, known to loved ones as Jenny and Billy, were killed when their SUV collided with a semi-truck blocking both lanes of U.S. 20 east of Bend on November 24. The couple had been married just 16 days and were returning from their wedding reception in eastern Idaho when the crash occurred around 9:30 p.m.

“There’s never been a happier marriage on the planet,” said Dennis Carter, father of the groom, who was told by police that the crash, which happened in darkness, had been unavoidable.

Investigators have focused on whether the truck driver, 32-year-old Rajinder Kumar, had properly placed flares or warning lights on the road. Prosecutors subsequently charged Kumar with first-degree manslaughter, alleging reckless disregard for safety.

What began as a private tragedy for the Carter and Lower families soon became politicized when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a press release on December 1 highlighting Kumar’s immigration status. The agency emphasized that Kumar had entered the country illegally from India but received work authorization in 2023 during the Biden administration and a commercial driver’s license in California.

The statement from DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin pointedly criticized “sanctuary politicians” and questioned “how many more senseless tragedies must take place before sanctuary politicians stop allowing illegal aliens to dangerously operate semi-trucks on America’s roads?”

This public framing of the tragedy blindsided the grieving families. Social media influencers began harvesting photos from the couple’s personal accounts without permission, and some posts took on overtly racist overtones. One fundraising site for funeral expenses was defaced with a numerical code used by white supremacists.

“Seeing my son’s memory made into a political football is sickening,” said Elizabeth Carter, the groom’s mother.

Becky Lower, Jennifer’s mother, echoed this sentiment: “We’re still trying to wrap our heads around the idea that our daughter is gone. This political thing, it’s just too much.”

The incident marks another instance where the Trump administration has highlighted traffic fatalities involving immigrants to advance policy positions. Last month, federal officials similarly criticized Oregon for issuing a driver’s license to what they termed a “criminal illegal alien from Honduras” involved in a crash that killed a child in Boise.

While DHS claimed they had placed an immigration detainer on Kumar, local law enforcement reported not receiving it. Oregon law prohibits cooperation with such federal detainers regardless.

Kumar remains in Deschutes County Jail with bail set at $500,000, increased from the original $100,000. His sister, Priyanka Gollen, has defended him in a letter, noting that Kumar cooperated fully with police and did not flee the scene. “Rajinder is not asking for sympathy but due process,” she wrote.

As the legal process unfolds, both families are focused on honoring the memory of the young couple whose love story had only just begun. Both families are devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which teaches that marriage extends beyond death.

William “Billy” Carter, 25, was born in Phoenix and raised primarily in Springfield, Oregon. A Thurston High School graduate, he discovered an unexpected passion for physics and dreamed of teaching scientific principles through virtual reality. After graduation, he worked as a grocery packer and optician at Walmart.

Jennifer “Jenny” Lower, 24, was born in Moscow, Idaho, and grew up with five siblings in Preston, a small town near the Utah border. A talented musician who excelled on multiple woodwind instruments, she graduated with honors from both high school and the University of Oregon, where she earned a music degree.

Their romance began in February at a church-organized scavenger hunt. By May 8, they had officially become a couple. Jenny graduated from college in June, and by August, Billy had proposed outside a temple in Pocatello, Idaho.

The couple married on November 8 at a temple in Portland, celebrating with a weeklong Disneyland honeymoon before returning for a reception in Idaho. They were planning to move to an apartment in Lebanon, Oregon, where Jenny hoped to train as a piano technician.

Now, instead of beginning their life together, the families prepared for the couple’s funeral, scheduled for December 8 – exactly one month after their wedding day.

“Billy and Jenny were just lit up. They were smiling ear to ear,” recalled Tom Lower, Jennifer’s father, describing the day his daughter was married in what the families now remember as a union “forever unblemished by fear or worry.”