JD Vance, Kamala Harris, and Barack Obama issue comments on 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 the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. The civil rights leader and two-time Democratic presidential primary candidate was 84 years old.

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

“I have a close family member who has voted in two presidential primaries in his lifetime. Donald Trump in 2016 and Jesse Jackson in 1988,” Vance wrote in an article on X. “RIP Jesse Jackson.”

TRUMP REMEMBERED JESSE JACKSON AS “GOOD MAN,” “FORCE OF NATURE”

Rev. Jesse Jackson is honored during a celebration of his legacy at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition on August 18, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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

“As a young law student, I drove back and forth from Oakland, where I lived, to San Francisco, where I went to school. I had a sticker on the back window of my car that said, ‘Jesse Jackson for President.’ As I drove across the Bay Bridge, you wouldn’t believe how many people from all walks of life were giving me a thumbs up or honking at me in support. These were small interactions, but they illustrate Rev. Jackson’s lifelong work: elevating the dignity of workers, building community and coalitions, and strengthening our democracy and our nation,” she noted in an article on X.

REV JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND FOUNDER OF RAINBOW PUSH, DIES AT 84

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris holds hands with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. as they listen to his daughter, Santita Jackson, sing Wind Beneath My Wings during the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition annual convention at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, July 16, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“I was proud to collaborate with and learn from him in this work throughout my career, and I am very grateful for the time we spent together in January. Rev. Jackson was a selfless leader, mentor, and friend to me and so many others,” she wrote.

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

REV JESSE JACKSON RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER TREATMENT FOR RARE BRAIN DISORDER

President Barack Obama shakes hands with the Rev. Jesse Jackson as he leaves the funeral of Dorothy Height at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, April 29, 2010. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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