President Donald Trump remembered the late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson on Wednesday as “a real piece of work” but “a good man” and a hero.
Watch the full event in the video player above.
“I knew him well long before becoming president, and he really was special, with lots of personality, grit and street smarts,” Trump said during a White House event commemorating Black History Month.
WATCH: A look at Jesse Jackson’s decades of civil rights advocacy
He said Jackson was “gregarious and someone who truly loved people and a force of nature,” adding he’ll be greatly missed.
White House pardon czar praises trump for giving her a ‘second chance’
President Donald Trump stands next to Alice Marie Johnson, a criminal justice reform advocate who served 21 years for a nonviolent drug offense before her 2018 commutation and 2020 pardon by Trump, as they attend a Black History Month reception at the White House on Feb. 18, 2026. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/ Reuters
White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson says her elevation from prison to a White House job is uniquely American.
Trump commuted Johnson’s sentence for federal drug and money laundering charges in 2018 and later pardoned her. She had spent more than two decades serving life without parole for a nonviolent drug offense.
As pardon czar, Johnson advises Trump and the administration on clemency cases.
“When you see me, you see a miracle, you see hope, you see second chances, and you see someone who is willing to roll up their sleeves and do the work, do the hard work to help individuals gain their freedom,” Johnson said during a Black History Month event at the White House.
Johnson, who is Black, touted Trump as a friend to Black Americans.
“This president hears you,” she said. “This president cares for you.”
Trump says he’s not a racist
At the White House’s Black History Month event, Trump didn’t mention his recent racist social media post featuring former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, as primates in a jungle that was later deleted.
But he shrugged off charges he’s racist, saying that former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who is Black, can vouch for him.
“Whenever they come out and they say, ‘Trump’s a racist'” the president told the event “Mike Tyson goes, ‘He’s not a racist, he’s my friend.'”
Trump also mentioned another Black former athlete he is friendly with, noting that former NFL running back Herschel Walker is his administration’s ambassador to “I don’t know, Bahamas? Bermuda?” The president later added, “Whatever.”
Walker is U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.
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