Former President Joe Biden faced strong backlash for delivering a politically tinged eulogy at civil rights leader Jesse Jackson’s funeral earlier this month, despite the family’s explicit request to keep the service nonpolitical.
Commentator Megyn Kelly launched a fierce attack 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 stage.
On her March 9 broadcast, Kelly excoriated the Democratic figures for ignoring the family’s request. “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 plea that speakers refrain from political comments during the memorials for the civil rights leader, who died February 17 at 84 after suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurological disorder. Despite that plea, several Democratic officials made remarks that appeared directed at President Donald Trump’s administration.
Biden’s wandering eulogy took an odd turn when the 83-year-old former president made a notable comment about his own intelligence while mentioning his childhood stutter. Biden told attendees, “I’m a hell of a lot smarter than most of you.” He was illustrating how speech disorders can be misinterpreted as low intellect, then added, “Well, all kidding aside, it makes you feel really small.”
Kelly was blunt in her criticism, faulting Biden’s remarks and questioning his decision to disregard the family’s wishes.
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 attendees, per CNN’s live coverage of the funeral.
Obama also used his eulogy to deliver thinly veiled critiques of President Trump without naming him directly, warning that Americans face “some new assault on our democratic institutions” day after day. He said “greed and bigotry” are being celebrated while “bullying and mockery” are mistaken for strength.
At the final memorial the following day at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters on Chicago’s South Side, Jesse Jackson Jr. strongly criticized 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., who ran in the March 17 Democratic primary seeking to retake his old congressional seat in Illinois’ 2nd District, 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 federal prison time, was a candidate in a crowded Democratic primary in Illinois on Tuesday.
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller defeated Jackson Jr., ending his attempt to return to Congress more than a decade after his resignation and conviction. The 10-candidate race drew significant outside spending and was one of the most closely watched Illinois Democratic primaries of 2026.
Thirteen years earlier, Jackson Jr. stood in a busy Washington, D.C., courtroom and admitted he had spent $750,000 in campaign funds on lavish personal items, including elk mounts, fur capes, and a $43,000 Rolex.
Kelly reserved particular scorn for Harris, who also spoke at the service, calling the former vice president “insufferable” for quickly shifting to political criticism 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 remarks in his eulogy, choosing to reflect on his 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 work after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968 and ran for president in 1984 and 1988, left a legacy that crossed party lines. His death at 84 closed an important chapter in American civil rights history.
The funeral clash highlights the recurring tension between honoring a family’s wishes at memorial services and politicians using high-profile events for political messaging. Kelly questioned whether “hubris” led the three Democratic leaders to disregard the Jackson family’s request for a nonpolitical service.