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President Donald Trump praised civil rights activist Jesse Jackson as a “real hero” during a White House Black History Month event Wednesday, just a day after Jackson’s death.
“I wanted to begin by expressing a sadness that the passing of a person who was. I knew very well Jesse was a piece of work. He was a piece of work. But he was a good man. He was a real hero,” Trump said on Wednesday, earning cheers from the audience.
Trump hosted leaders from the Black community at the White House Wednesday to honor Black History Month in February. He remarked as the event kicked off that there was a “sold-out crowd” and that the upcoming White House ballroom would accommodate far more people.
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Trump had lamented Jackson’s death in a prior Truth Social post Tuesday, elaborating on Wednesday that the pair’s relationship got “better and better all the time.”
“A lot of people you get to know, they get worse and worse. Jesse got better and better. But I knew him well long before becoming president, and he really was special, with lots of personality, grit and street smarts,” Trump continued.
Jackson, 84, died Tuesday. His cause of death has not been identified, but he had suffered from health issues including living with a rare neurological condition.
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Jackson was a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, and longtime civil rights leader who joined Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s before his assassination, and was the founder of civil rights group, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
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“I will tell you, he was gregarious and someone who truly loved people and a force of nature, who is, somebody that we’re going to greatly miss. And on behalf of everyone here today, I know you join me in sending our condolences to the entire family,” Trump continued.
Wednesday’s event included celebrating the legacy of Black Americans, economic wins under the Trump administration, as well as Trump reigniting his 2025 announcement that former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who served under Trump’s first term, would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“Ben’s getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It’s the highest award you can have outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor,” Trump said.
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