Former President Joe Biden faced strong backlash for delivering a politically charged eulogy at civil rights leader Jesse Jackson’s funeral earlier this month, despite the family’s explicit request to avoid politics during the service.
Commentator Megyn Kelly launched a blistering critique on “The Megyn Kelly Show” after Jesse Jackson Jr. publicly criticized Biden, former President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harris for turning the March 6, 2026 memorial at House of Hope in Chicago into a political platform.
On her March 9 broadcast, Kelly excoriated the Democratic figures for disregarding the family’s wishes. “All these Democrats show up at his funeral, and they were asked not to get political,” she said. “Well, they couldn’t contain themselves.”
The controversy followed the Jackson family’s clear request that speakers avoid politics during the memorials for the civil rights leader, who died February 17 at 84 after battling progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological condition. Despite that plea, several Democrats gave remarks that appeared aimed at President Donald Trump’s administration.
Biden’s meandering eulogy took a strange turn when the 83-year-old former president made a notable comment about his own intellect while referring to his childhood stutter. Biden told attendees, “I’m a hell of a lot smarter than most of you.” He used the line to illustrate how speech problems are often mistaken for low intelligence, then added, “Well, all kidding aside, it makes you feel really small.”
Kelly did not hold back, lambasting Biden’s performance and questioning why he ignored the family’s request.
In his March 6 remarks, the former president moved from personal memories to criticizing the current administration. “We’re in a tough time, folks. We have an administration that doesn’t share the values we have,” Biden told the crowd.
Obama likewise used his eulogy to offer veiled critiques of President Trump without naming him directly, warning that Americans face “some new assault on our democratic institutions” day by day and saying that “greed and bigotry” are being celebrated while “bullying and mockery” are treated as strength.
At the final memorial held the following day at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters on Chicago’s South Side, Jesse Jackson Jr. sharply rebuked the Democratic leaders who spoke at his father’s funeral.
“Yesterday, I listened for several hours to three United States presidents who do not know Jesse Jackson,” the former congressman said on Saturday, March 7. Jackson Jr. emphasized that his father demanded “a consistent, prophetic voice that at no point in time ever sold us out as a people.”
Kelly defended Jackson Jr.’s comments on her show. “But Jesse Jackson Jr. was not happy. And who could blame him?” she asked.
Jackson Jr., whose promising political career was derailed by a corruption conviction and prison sentence, attempted to reclaim his former Illinois 2nd District seat in a crowded Democratic House primary in Illinois on March 17. The 10-candidate race drew substantial outside spending and was among the most-watched Illinois Democratic primaries of 2026.
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller defeated Jackson Jr., ending his attempt to return to Congress more than a decade after his resignation and federal conviction. Thirteen years earlier, Jackson Jr. had admitted in a packed Washington, D.C., courtroom that he used $750,000 in campaign funds for lavish personal purchases, such as elk heads, fur capes, and a $43,000 Rolex.
Kelly saved particular criticism for Harris, who also spoke at the service. Kelly called the former vice president “insufferable” for swiftly turning to political critique after offering brief condolences.
Kelly predicted Harris would run for president again in 2028, accusing her of recycling lines from earlier campaign speeches.
Former President Bill Clinton notably avoided political commentary in his eulogy, opting instead to recall his personal friendship with Jackson. “I’m here more as a friend than a former president,” Clinton said. “He was my friend when I needed him.”
Jackson, who led civil rights efforts after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968 and was a presidential candidate in 1984 and 1988, left a legacy that transcended party divisions. His death at 84 closed an important chapter in American civil rights history.
The funeral controversy highlights the persistent tension between respecting a family’s wishes at memorials and politicians’ inclination to use high-profile events for political messaging. Kelly questioned whether “hubris” led the three Democratic leaders to disregard the Jackson family’s plea for a nonpolitical service.
