Donald Trump spoke publicly about Jesse Jackson following the civil rights leader’s death, reflecting on their past interactions and offering condolences to his family. In his remarks, the president described Jackson in personal terms while also referencing political criticism he has faced.
Donald Trump pays tribute to Jesse Jackson
President Donald Trump paid tribute to the Rev. Jesse Jackson following his death at 84 and called the civil rights leader a “force of nature like few others before him.”
In a post on Truth Social, the president said he knew Jackson years before becoming president and provided assistance to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the organization Jackson founded. “He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,'” Mr. Trump wrote. “He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!”
Trump addressed criticism against him in the post. “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,” he wrote. He cited criminal justice reform, increased funding for historically Black colleges and universities, and “Opportunity Zones” created through the 2017 tax reform legislation as policies he said Jackson supported.
“Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him,” Trump said. He added that Jackson “loved his family greatly, and to them I send my deepest sympathies and condolences. Jesse will be missed!” Trump also posted several old photos of the two together.
Their relationship dated back decades. Photos show the two at a 1988 boxing match in Atlantic City and at a campaign event in New York. In 1997, Mr. Trump announced he would donate office space at 40 Wall Street to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s Wall Street Project. In 1998, Jackson introduced Mr. Trump as “the most bashful and the most retreating and the most self-effacing.” One year later, Jackson said, “One can miss his seriousness and his commitment, for his success is beyond argument.”
Jackson’s family said he died peacefully on Tuesday morning. They said doctors hospitalized him in November to observe a neurodegenerative condition that doctors diagnosed last year.
