On April 20, 1979, President Jimmy Carter had an incident with a swamp rabbit while on a fishing trip in Georgia. The rabbit, pursued by hounds, took to the water for escape but soon noticed the President's fishing boat and swam towards the boat, forcing Carter to take action by hitting the water with his paddle in order to shoo the rabbit away. While this incident was honestly rather minor, it quickly became a hit with the media, particularly during the ensuing election campaign and Reagan administration. Occurring four years following the release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, comparisons to the famed Killer Rabbit of Caebernnog by the media and political humorists ensued. For an image of the encounter taken by a White House photographer who followed Carter on his trip as well as a cartoonist's interpretation, please follow the links provided:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Jimmy_Carter_in_boat_chasing_away_swimming_rabbit%2C_Plains%2C_Georgia_-_19790420_%28cropped%29.jpg

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/03/09/jimmy-carter-was-once-attacked-by-a-rabbit-on-a-boat/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4fed20b490f7