Vance, Harris, Obama issue tributes to Rev Jesse Jackson

Vice President JD Vance, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama were among the prominent political figures who issued statements following the death of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. The civil rights leader and two-time Democratic presidential candidate was 84.

Vance indicated that one of his family members voted for Jackson in the 1988 Democratic presidential primary and for Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.

“I have a close family member who voted in two presidential primaries in her entire life. Donald Trump in 2016 and Jesse Jackson in 1988,” Vance wrote in a post on X. “RIP Jesse Jackson.”

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Former Vice President Kamala Harris recalled getting positive reactions from others when she had a “Jesse Jackson for President” bumper sticker on her car when she was a law student.

“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,” she noted in a post on X.

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“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,” she wrote.

Former President Barack Obama noted in a statement that he and former first lady Michelle Obama “were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of a true giant, the Reverend Jesse Jackson.”

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“Michelle got her first glimpse of political organizing at the Jacksons’ kitchen table when she was a teenager. And in his two historic runs for president, he laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land,” Obama noted. “Michelle and I will always be grateful for Jesse’s lifetime of service, and the friendship our families share.”