USA09 March, 20262 min read
Jesse Jackson Jr. Slams Obama, Biden For Turning Father's Memorial Into Attack On President Trump
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Jesse Jackson Jr. rebuked Obama, Biden and Clinton for using the memorial to attack Trump Multiple former presidents delivered political criticisms during the Chicago tribute to Jesse Jackson
Jackson Jr.'s eulogy rebuke
Jesse Jackson Jr. publicly rebuked eulogies delivered by former presidents at his father’s memorial, saying the speakers had turned the occasion into partisan attacks and did not truly know his father. Jackson Jr. told attendees he had "listened for several hours to three United States presidents who do not know Jesse Jackson," and repeatedly said the presidents "do not know Jesse Jackson," arguing his father’s work demanded a "consistent, prophetic voice" rather than partisan solutions. Other accounts similarly report Jackson Jr. saying the speakers "do not know Jesse Jackson" and that although they had met his father, "they didn't truly know him."
Eulogies at public service
Barack Obama warned of a "new assault on our democratic institutions" and condemned a political climate of fear, bigotry and attacks on democratic institutions. Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration's values, saying it does not share "any of the values that we have."
Bill Clinton downplayed politics and "kept his eulogy largely apolitical." Sources report these differences in how the three used their remarks at the public service.
Jackson Jr. memorial rebuke
Jackson Jr. had earlier asked that politics be kept out of the services and urged the events remain welcoming to all. He nonetheless used a private memorial to challenge what he called partisan grandstanding.
“Earlier Jackson Jr. had asked that politics be kept out of the services and that the events remain welcoming to all.”
Fox NewsMultiple outlets describe him publicly rebuking former Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton at a private memorial, saying the presidents 'do not know Jesse Jackson' and faulting them for injecting partisan politics into the service. Reports place his remarks at a private memorial at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters and note he had asked attendees to keep services respectful and inclusive of the full political spectrum.
Service attendance and coverage
Coverage notes that the public and private services drew a wide range of political figures while President Trump did not attend. Reports say the public Friday service at Chicago’s House of Hope featured Obama and Biden and drew figures like former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Some outlets point out that former President Trump did not attend.
Some outlets explicitly note that reports of Jackson Jr.’s critique appeared in TMZ and the New York Post, underscoring how different outlets covered the rebuke. The coverage uses both "President Trump" and "former President Trump," a contradiction among the sources.
Jesse Jackson Sr.'s legacy
Across accounts, the events were framed around Jesse Jackson Sr.'s legacy as a civil-rights leader who expanded political participation, even as his son emphasized that this legacy demanded prophetic advocacy for the dispossessed rather than party politics.
“The service otherwise focused on Jackson’s legacy as a civil-rights leader who broadened political participation and helped shape the modern Democratic Party.”
Fox NewsOutlets describe Jackson Sr. as a figure who 'broadened political participation and helped shape the modern Democratic Party,' and report Jackson Jr.'s depiction of his father as 'often at odds with the political establishment—white or Black—and committed to speaking prophetically for the dispossessed without selling out to party politics.'
