Politicians, Journalists and Activists Honor Jesse Jackson, as Trump Calls Him ‘A Force of Nature’
President Donald Trump praised Rev. Jesse Jackson as “a good man, with lots of personality, grit and ‘street smarts’” as politicians, journalists and activists paid tribute to the late civil rights leader, who died on Tuesday.
Jackson, a protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. and who later twice ran for president, was 84. His family said he died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.
“His unwavering commitment to justice, equality and human rights helped shape the global movement for freedom and dignity,” his family said in a statement. “A tireless change agent, he elevated voices of the voiceless — from his Presidential campaigns in the 1980s to mobilizing millions to register to vote — leaving an indelible mark on history.”
Trump used his tribute post on Truth Social to tout his own record of things that he said Jackson supported, such as a push to get criminal justice reform passed and a bill to provide funding to historically Black colleges and universities. The president said he also provided office space for Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition at one of his Manhattan buildings.
“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 wrote, adding: “Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him.”
Bernice King, a civil rights activist and King’s youngest daughter, said Jackson used his work to push “barriers and opened doors so Black people and other excluded communities could step into opportunity and dignity.”
“He was a gifted negotiator and a courageous bridge‑builder, serving humanity by bringing calm into tense rooms and creating pathways where none existed,” she wrote on X. “My family shares a long and meaningful history with him, rooted in a shared commitment to justice and love. As we grieve, we give thanks for a life that pushed hope into weary places.”
Rev. Al Sharpton, a fellow civil rights leader whose career was often tied to Jackson’s, praised him as a mentor and shared photos of their work together.
“He was a consequential and transformative leader who changed this nation and the world,” he wrote in an X post. “He shaped public policy and changed laws. He kept the dream alive and taught young children from broken homes, like me, that we don’t have broken spirits.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called Jackson “a titan in the struggle for civil rights and racial justice” in an X post.
“From his days at the side of Dr. King, to his moral leadership in this century, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. spent his life pushing our nation closer to its own ideal,” he wrote. “As we pray for his family and loved ones, we should also mark his passing by recommitting ourselves to the vision of a fully free and just society.”
Nina Turner, a Democratic activist who Jackson endorsed for Ohio secretary of state in 2014, said he “shook not only his own world but the very foundations of American politics, especially within the Democratic Party.”
“Reverend Jackson was the embodiment of hope, justice, and love,” she wrote in a lengthy tribute post on X recounting her experiences with him. “He leaned always toward what was right, what was just, and what was good. His eloquence and oratory skills were legendary, but it was his love for the people that truly set him apart.”
CNN anchor Abby Phillip, who published “A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power” last year that examined his political legacy through his presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988, shared a tribute on X that Democratic strategist Donna Brazile wrote for the Washington Post.
Brazile, Phillip noted, “Is the personification of one of Jackson’s most important legacies: a generation of Black women leading in politics.”
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