Dealing with Trump on a Solemn Occasion

There were no end of news sources this morning reflecting on the death of Jesse Jackson. Nevertheless, I could not avoid checking out how this news would be presented “on the other side of the pond.” As a television viewer, I appreciate my cable provider giving me access to the British Broadcasting Corporation. However, when it comes to reading text, I have discovered that the Web site for The Guardian has become a preferred source.

So it was this morning that I found, on that site, the headline “‘One of America’s greatest patriots’: US political leaders pay tribute to Jesse Jackson.” Guardian Web pages tend to begin with a photograph, and the choice could not have been better. On March 4, 1990, Jackson led the way in the recreation of a march in Alabama in 1965, beginning in Selma and ending at the State House in Montgomery:

Jesse Jackson at the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Alabama (photograph by Jamie Sturtevant, provided by Associated Press)

For many of my generation, this was one of the most significant historical moments in the twentieth century; but, as Richard Luscombe, the author of the article following the photograph, made clear, this was but one of the significant events in Jackson’s life. He documented a generous number of interviews over the course of his article, including Jackson’s colleague Al Sharpton and, from the following generation, Kamala Harris.

I suppose it was inevitable that Luscombe would also write about the current President of the United States. As a result, the article concluded with the following three paragraphs:

Donald Trump, in a post on his own Truth Social network, called Jackson “a good man” and a “friend”, also claiming to have provided office space in New York for his Rainbow Push Coalition.

Trump’s post, as is often the case, quickly turned political, and about himself. The president attacked the “scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left” who, he said, “falsely and consistently” called him a racist, and sought recognition for “funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which Jesse loved”.

Trump also took a swing at a familiar political foe, former president Barack Obama, whom, he claimed, Jackson “could not stand”.

To be perfectly frank, that last sentence did not surprise me; but I am pretty sure that Obama is far too dignified to respond to such a slur! Fortunately, there are more than enough encomiums in Jackson’s honor to let one sour grape get in the way!