Watch: Trump remembers Jesse Jackson at Black History Month event

US President Donald Trump remembered the late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson on Wednesday, calling him a “real businessman” but a “good man” and a hero.

Watch the full event in the video player above.

“I knew him well long before I became president, and he was really special, with a lot of character and determination and street smarts,” Trump said during a White House event commemorating Black History Month.

He watches: A look at Jesse Jackson’s decades of civil rights advocacy

He said Jackson was “outgoing, a person who truly loved people and a force of nature,” adding that he would miss him greatly.

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 it was commuted in 2018 and pardoned in 2020 by Trump, as they attend a Black History Month reception at the White House on February 18, 2026. Photo by Kevin LaMarque/Reuters

Alice Marie Johnson, the White House clemency official, said her promotion from prison to a White House job is uniquely American.

Trump commuted Johnson’s sentence on federal drug and money laundering charges in 2018 and later pardoned her. She has served more than two decades serving life without parole for a non-violent drug offense.

As clemency czar, Johnson advises Trump and the administration on clemency issues.

“When you see me, you see a miracle, you see hope, you see second chances, 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, described Trump as a friend of black Americans.

“This president hears you,” she said. “This president cares about you.”

Trump says he is not a racist

At a Black History Month event at the White House, Trump did not mention his recent racist social media post featuring former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as monkeys in a jungle, which was later deleted.

Read more: Trump’s racist post about the Obamas was deleted after backlash despite the White House defending it earlier

But he brushed off accusations that he was racist, saying former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who is black, could vouch for him.

The president said in his speech: “Whenever they come out and say that Trump is a racist, Mike Tyson says: He is not a racist, he is my friend.”

Trump also mentioned another black former athlete he was friends with, noting that Herschel Walker, a former NFL player, is his administration’s ambassador to “I don’t know, Bahamas? Bermuda?” The president later added: “Whatever.”

Walker is the United States Ambassador to the Bahamas.