President Donald Trump marked the passing of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson with a tribute that did not stay solemn for long.
Jackson, who died at 84 after battling Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, spent decades at the center of American political life. He ran for president twice, worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and later founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Many historians say his campaigns helped reshape the Democratic Party and opened doors that would later benefit Barack Obama.
Trump acknowledged Jackson’s impact in a Truth Social post, writing, “Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him. He had much to do with the Election, without acknowledgment or credit, of Barack Hussein Obama, a man who Jesse could not stand.”
The line stood out.
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Jackson had once criticized Obama during the 2008 campaign and was later caught on a hot mic making a crude remark. He apologized and continued to back Obama publicly, but Trump chose to highlight the friction rather than the reconciliation.
He then offered condolences to Jackson’s family.
“He loved his family greatly, and to them I send my deepest sympathies and condolences. Jesse will be missed!”
Trump also used the post to defend himself against long standing accusations of racism.
“I knew him well, long before becoming President. He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts.’ He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!”
He went further, adding: “Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way.”
Trump pointed to providing office space in one of his New York buildings for Jackson’s organization in the 1990s. He also referenced criminal justice reform, long term funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Opportunity Zones as part of his record.
Jackson’s life stretched from the segregated South of the 1940s to the national stage. Born in 1941, he became one of the most visible civil rights leaders of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries. He founded the Rainbow Coalition, later merged into the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and spent decades fighting for voting rights and economic opportunity.
He was in Memphis in 1968 when King was assassinated and later said King died in his arms. His career left a deep mark on American politics.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
