'Bullying masquerading as strength': Obama attacks Trump at Jesse Jackson memorial

LAST UPDATE | 6 hrs ago

FORMER US PRESIDENT Barack Obama lashed out at President Donald Trump for conducting an “assault on our democratic institutions” as he paid tribute to the late civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.

Obama joined former presidents Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, as well as Hillary Clinton and former vice president Kamala Harris, to mark the life of Jackson after his death at age 84.

“Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offence to common decency,” Obama said after receiving a rapturous welcome at the event in Chicago.

“Every day, you wake up to things you just didn’t think were possible.

“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.

“Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated, and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength.

“We see science and expertise denigrated, while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards. Every single day. We see that, and it’s hard to hope in those moments.”

Obama continued: “It may be tempting to get discouraged, to give into cynicism, it may be tempting for some to compromise with power and grab what you can, or even for good people, maybe just put your head down and wait for the storm to pass.

“But this man, Reverend Jesse Lewis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path.

“His voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope, to step forward and say, ‘Send me wherever we have a chance to make an impact’.

“Whether it’s in our school or our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our cities – not for fame, not for glory, or because success is guaranteed, but because it gives our life purpose.

“Because it lines with what our faith tells us God demands, and because if we don’t step up, no one else will.

“How fortunate we were, that Jesse Jackson answered that call, what a great debt we owe to him.” 

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Elsewhere, Harris, who lost to Trump in the 2024 election, told the congregation: “Let me just say, I predicted a lot about what’s happening right now.

“I’m not here to say ‘I told you so,’ but we did see it coming.”

She then added: “But what I did not predict is that we would not have Jesse Jackson with us right now to help us get through this.

Biden meanwhile remarked: “We’re in a tough spot, folks – we’ve got an administration that doesn’t share any of the values that we have and I don’t think I’m exaggerating a little bit.”

Ahead of the speeches, a choir sang as attendees photographed a large panel emblazoned with one of Jackson’s mantras “keep hope alive.”

A blue-lit image of Jackson was projected on a giant screen behind an altar.

Jackson, who died on 17 February, was a close associate of Martin Luther King Jr in the 1960s and remained a prominent voice of African Americans on the national stage for more than six decades.

In 1960, he participated in his first sit-in, in Greenville, South Carolina, and then joined Alabama’s Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights marches in 1965, where he caught King’s attention.

Jackson, a Baptist minister, later emerged as a mediator and envoy on several notable international fronts.

He became a prominent advocate for ending apartheid in South Africa, and in the 1990s served as presidential special envoy to Africa for Bill Clinton.

Missions to free US prisoners took him to Syria, Iraq and Serbia.

He founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization focused on social justice and political activism, in 1996.

He is survived by his wife and six children.

- With additional reporting from © AFP 2026 

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