Jesse Jackson: tributes and reactions from Bernice King, Trump and Biden after civil rights leader’s death – latest updates
Follow latest updates as public figures praise civil rights leader who was a protege of Martin Luther King Jr and twice ran for Democratic presidential nomination
Tue 17 Feb 2026 11.57 EST
Kamala Harris pays tribute to 'one of America's greatest patriots'
Former vice-president Kamala Harris has also paid tribute to Jesse Jackson, describing him as “one of America’s greatest patriots”.
“He spent his life summoning all of us to fulfil the promise of America and building the coalitions to make that promise real,” she wrote in a post on X, adding that he gave a voice to those who were “removed from power and politics”.
She continued:
He let us know our voices mattered. He instilled in us that we were somebody. And he widened the path for generations to follow in his footsteps and lead. As a young law student, I would drive back and forth from Oakland, where I lived, to San Francisco, where I went to school. I had a bumper sticker in the back window of my car that read: “Jesse Jackson for President.”
As I would drive across the Bay Bridge, you would not believe how people from every walk of life would give me a thumbs up or honk of support. They were small interactions, but they exemplified Reverend Jackson’s life work – lifting up the dignity of working people, building community and coalitions, and strengthening our democracy and nation.
I was proud to partner with and learn from him on this work throughout my career, and I am so grateful for the time we spent together this January. Reverend Jackson was a selfless leader, mentor, and friend to me and so many others.
- Jesse Jackson’s unapologetic progressivism was rebellion at its core
- Biden: Jackson was 'determined and tenacious' in his belief in America’s promise
- Illinois governor orders flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Jackson
- Kamala Harris pays tribute to 'one of America's greatest patriots'
- 'America has lost a titan in the struggle for civil rights and racial justice' - Buttigieg
- Donald Trump calls Jackson a 'good man' who 'truly loved the people'
- Top Democrat says Jackson was 'the people's champion'
- New York mayor calls Jackson a 'giant in the civil rights movement'
- Martin Luther King Jr's daughter says Jackson 'created pathways where none existed' before
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- Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has died aged 84, family says
The veteran civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who has died aged 84, made history when he stood for the White House in 1984 and 1988. He was not the first African American to seek the US presidency, but he was the first to mount a serious challenge, breaking through racial barriers, securing millions of votes and, at one point, becoming frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.
His run opened the way for Barack Obama two decades later. But Jackson deserves to be remembered as more than a footnote in Obama’s biography. It took courage and self-confidence to stand in the 1980s, with memories of segregation and the civil rights battles of the 60s still raw.
In the middle of the 1984 presidential run, the writer James Baldwin offered what today still stands as a fitting epitaph. The writer told reporters that the presence of an African-American civil rights activist in the race had been a significant moment.
Jackson’s presence “presents the American Republic with questions and choices it has spent all its history until this hour trying to avoid ... And nothing will ever again be what it was before.” The quote came from Marshall Frady’s sympathetic biography, Jesse: The Life and Pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson, published in 1996.
“Jackson was more than a civil rights advocate – he was a living bridge between generations, carrying forward the unfinished work and sacred promise of the Civil Rights Movement,” Martin Luther King III and his wife Andrea King said in a statement.
The pair added:
He walked with courage when the road was uncertain, spoke with conviction when the truth was inconvenient, and stood with the poor, the marginalized, and the forgotten when it was not popular to do so.
His life was a testament to the power of faith in action – faith that justice could be won, that dignity belongs to every person, and that love must always have the final word.
May his memory be a wellspring of strength and courage for all who continue the sacred work to which he gave his life. As he so often reminded us: keep hope alive.
A statement on behalf of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chairman, Leon W Russell, vice-chair, Karen Boykin Towns and the organisation’s president, Derrick Johnson paid tribute to Jackson today.
It read:
Reverend Jesse Jackson was not only a civil rights icon - he was family to the NAACP. His work advanced black America at every turn. He challenged this nation to live up to its highest ideals, and he reminded our movement that hope is both a strategy and a responsibility.
His historic run for president inspired millions and brought race to the forefront of American politics.
We honor his legacy by continuing the work he championed: protecting the right to vote, expanding economic opportunity, and fighting for the freedom and dignity of black people everywhere.
The mayor of Atlanta said in a statement that he intends to keep Jackson’s hopes alive, as he paid tribute to the late civil rights activist.
“I join the people of Atlanta mourning the passing of an American icon,” mayor Andre Dickens said.
“Rev Jackson showed up for us consistently. He never stopped challenging leaders to do better by Americans, especially when it comes to economic justice. And that’s a fight that we will continue.
“Here in Atlanta, as well as around the country, we would be wise to heed Rev. Jackson’s words and ‘keep hope alive.’ We intend to.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren said Jesse Jackson was a “trailblazer and a fighter” in an X post today.
She said:
I had the privilege of speaking with him about his vision for a fairer, more equal and just country.
He has given a generation of leaders hope that we can and should keep fighting for that vision.
He will be missed.
Here is a video obituary, detailing the remarkable life of the civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who died today:
Minority leader of the Senate Chuck Schumer has called Jesse Jackson an “icon” and “fearless warrior” for justice.
In a post on X, he said:
Jesse Jackson was an icon of the civil rights movement and a fearless warrior for justice for all people. He was one of the most powerful forces for positive change in our country and our world. America is a more equal and just place thanks to his work.
My prayers are with his family and all of those who were inspired by him. As we honor Rev. Jackson in the coming days, I will be thinking of the many lessons he taught us: “Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.” We should all seek to embody that spirit and serve others the way Rev. Jackson did.
Keep hope—alive!
Jesse Jackson’s unapologetic progressivism was rebellion at its core
By the early 1980s, the Democratic party was facing a crossroads. The 1980 landslide election of Ronald Reagan, who clenched the presidency with a whopping 489 electoral college votes against Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter, swiftly pulled the Democratic party to the right in the political and cultural wave of the “Reagan Revolution”.
For those Democratic constituents left behind, however, a challenge was mounting, mostly within US industrial cities whose economies were ransacked by Reagan’s “trickle-down” economics. Record tax cuts for the wealthy had come at the expense of a contracted social safety net, thus exacerbating inequality and collapsing much of the working class into the poor.
Grassroots resistance campaigns spawned across the country in response to this dire urban crisis that had disproportionately devastated African Americans, and between 1982 and 1984 they had registered 2 million new Black voters – the largest gain in registered Black voters since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
These hands-on voter registration drives were orchestrated much in part by Rev Jesse Jackson, the nationally known civil rights activist who died on Tuesday. Jackson had cut his teeth as one of Martin Luther King Jr’s youngest and most charismatic lieutenants in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and throughout the civil rights movement.
By the 1970s, in the wake of King’s assassination, Jackson had transferred the movement’s master-classes in strategic organizing into founding Operation Push, a populist leftist offshoot of the SCLC that coalesced progressive whites, LGBTQ+ communities, environmentalists, Asian Americans, Indigenous Nations, Latinos, anti-war activists, and labor unions.
Jackson led discussions with leadership across the country about the prospect for a national Black-backed progressive movement that could map a viable path to a Democratic nomination for president.
Biden: Jackson was 'determined and tenacious' in his belief in America’s promise
Former president Joe Biden has paid tribute to Jesse Jackson and said the civil rights activist was “determined and tenacious” in his belief in America’s promise.
He said the late civil rights activist was a man of God, as well as a man of the people and that he was “unafraid to work to redeem the soul of our nation”.
In a statement on social media, Biden said:
I’ve seen how Reverend Jackson has helped lead our Nation forward through tumult and triumph. He’s done it with optimism, and a relentless insistence on what is right and just. Whether through impassioned words on the campaign trail, or moments of quiet courage, Reverend Jackson influenced generations of Americans, and countless elected leaders, including Presidents.
Reverend Jackson believed in his bones the promise of America: that we are all created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. While we’ve never fully lived up to that promise, he dedicated his life to ensuring we never fully walked away from it either.
Jill and I are grateful to Reverend Jackson for his lifetime of dedicated service and inspirational leadership. We extend our love to the entire Jackson family, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and all those who counted Reverend Jackson as a mentor, friend, and hero.
Illinois governor orders flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Jackson
Govenor JB Pritzker has ordered flags to half-staff across Illinois in honor of Jesse Jackson.
Pritzker, a Democrat, called Jackson a “giant of the civil rights movement.”
“He broke down barriers, inspired generations, and kept hope alive,” Pritzker said in social media posts.
“Our state, nation, and world are better due to his years of service.”
Chairman of the Democrats Ken Martin described Jesse Jackson as “a tireless champion for justice, equality, and human dignity”.
In a post on X, he said:
We mourn the passing of civil rights legend Jesse Jackson, a tireless champion for justice, equality, and human dignity.
Rev. Jackson’s lifelong fight for civil rights helped shape a more just America, and his historic 1988 campaign for President broke barriers and inspired millions.
May his legacy continue to guide us forward.
California representative Ro Khanna said Jesse Jackson was a “giant of our times” as he paid tribute to the civil rights activist.
“Reverend Jackson spoke for all those who the powerful do not see. He inspired us to build a rainbow coalition,” he wrote on X.
“His 1988 Convention speech is one of the greatest in our nation’s history. He was a giant of our times.”
Kamala Harris pays tribute to 'one of America's greatest patriots'
Former vice-president Kamala Harris has also paid tribute to Jesse Jackson, describing him as “one of America’s greatest patriots”.
“He spent his life summoning all of us to fulfil the promise of America and building the coalitions to make that promise real,” she wrote in a post on X, adding that he gave a voice to those who were “removed from power and politics”.
She continued:
He let us know our voices mattered. He instilled in us that we were somebody. And he widened the path for generations to follow in his footsteps and lead. As a young law student, I would drive back and forth from Oakland, where I lived, to San Francisco, where I went to school. I had a bumper sticker in the back window of my car that read: “Jesse Jackson for President.”
As I would drive across the Bay Bridge, you would not believe how people from every walk of life would give me a thumbs up or honk of support. They were small interactions, but they exemplified Reverend Jackson’s life work – lifting up the dignity of working people, building community and coalitions, and strengthening our democracy and nation.
I was proud to partner with and learn from him on this work throughout my career, and I am so grateful for the time we spent together this January. Reverend Jackson was a selfless leader, mentor, and friend to me and so many others.
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