President Donald Trump is weighing in following the death of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, calling him a “force of nature” while also invoking former President Barack Obama in his tribute.
Jackson, who died Tuesday (February 17) at 84 after battling Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), leaves behind a decades-long legacy rooted in civil rights advocacy, political organizing and economic justice.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him,” before adding that Jackson “had much to do with the Election, without acknowledgment or credit, of Barack Hussein Obama.”
Jackson ran for president in 1984 and 1988, becoming one of the most influential Black political figures of the 20th century. His campaigns expanded the Democratic electorate and are widely viewed by historians as helping lay the groundwork for Obama’s historic 2008 victory.
Trump also extended condolences to Jackson’s family, writing, “He loved his family greatly, and to them I send my deepest sympathies and condolences. Jesse will be missed!”
The president went on to highlight past interactions with Jackson, including providing office space in one of his New York buildings to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in the 1990s and citing his administration’s work on criminal justice reform and long-term funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Jackson’s career began under the mentorship of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and he went on to found the Rainbow PUSH Coalition after leading Operation Breadbasket in Chicago. For more than five decades, he remained a prominent voice in the fight for voting rights, economic equity and racial justice.
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