Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Son Criticizes Those Who Politicized Funeral

The funeral for Rev. Jesse Jackson is getting attention for comments by two prominent Black leaders. Jackson died Feb. 17, 2026 and funeral services, or his “homegoing,” were held Friday.

Former President Barack Obama was described as “angry” for his comments during the funeral, which was held at House of Hope on the south side of Chicago. Obama’s remarks were included in reporting by The Hill, Yahoo and ABC news, among others, for sharp criticism of the Trump administration. Headlines from major news outlets described Obama as “slamming,” “ripping into,” or “going off,” and “angry” towards Trump and his supporters.

But Jackson’s son, Yusef Jackson, said such talk was divisive and inappropriate and that his father would not have wanted a politicized funeral

Some of Obama’s comments stood out for particular criticism after he claimed there was no “hope” in America. The former president alleged that greed and bigotry are being celebrated.  “We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope. Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency.” He went on to claim that Americans are being told to turn each other in. “Each day, we’re told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other, and that some Americans count more than others-and that some don’t even count at all,” he claimed.  “We see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards every single day… and it’s hard to hope.””

Yusef Jackson, a well-known Chicago attorney later spoke that it was not the place to fuel political divide. In a video from the funeral, Jackson stated:

“Do not bring your politics, out of respect to Reverend Jesse Jackson and the life that he lived, to these homegoing services. Come respectful, come humble, and come to say thank you. But these homegoing services are welcome to all-Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, right-wing, left-wing-because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American,” he stated.

SHAME!

The son of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson chides the left for turning his father’s funeral into a political rally against President Trump and Republicans:

“DO NOT bring your politics, out of respect to Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the life that he lived, to these ongoing… pic.twitter.com/TNYJKPqJBs

— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) March 7, 2026

Yusef, the youngest of Jackson’s children, went on to say, “We only ask people to come and be respectful in the context of the extraordinary life that he lived. Dad would have wanted us to have a great meeting, discuss our differences, find ways moving forward and moving together. And if his life becomes a turning point in our national political discourse, amen.”

Others weighed in as well. Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary under George W. Bush, stated,

“If you want to know why Donald Trump was elected, watch Barack Obama’s attack speech yesterday at Jesse Jackson’s funeral. As he did throughout his presidency, he created a straw man to describe Republicans as bigots who force the American people to ‘turn on each other’… Obama is one of the most divisive figures in US history.”

One user on X stated, “How dare you use the funeral of the Great Jesse Jackson, to become the fake Rev Obama. How dare you take a preachers tone, when you are a divisive POLITICIAN. SHAME on you.”

President Donald Trump, who was a friend of Jackson’s and helped him fund numerous urban initiatives to life minority communities out of poverty, was personally invited to the “homegoing” but did not attend because of the situation in the Middle East. Trump had previously stated that Jesse Jackson was a”force of nature,” and someone he knew “well long before becoming president.”

Several media outlets reached out to Obama representatives about the backlash but none received a response.

-Dwight Widaman