Jesse Jackson's son decries 'toxic climate' in DC that would 'lower the flag' for Charlie Kirk

27 Feb 2026 By foxnews

Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., decried a "toxic climate" in Washington, D.C., during MS NOW's "Morning Joe" on Thursday, that would "lower the flag for Charlie Kirk" while speaking about his father, Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died earlier this month.

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill, now a political analyst, asked Jackson to speak about a lack of acknowledgment of his father at the U.S. Capitol.

"I would focus on Gov. McMaster of South Carolina," Jackson said. "He's honoring my father with the opportunity to lie in state. My father is a son of South Carolina, grew up in the Jim Crow South Carolina where he couldn't walk on the lawns where it said 'No Negroes,' 'No Blacks' and 'No Jews and no dogs could walk on that lawn.'

"What was a loss in Washington, D.C., was certainly a homecoming and a gracious overture for a gain in South Carolina. The governor of Tennessee is lowering the flag as my father's remains pass through the state of Tennessee when we drive from Chicago through the states en route to South Carolina."

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Jackson went on to criticize the "toxic" climate of D.C., noting the lowering of the flag for Kirk, the conservative activist who was assassinated in September.

"There's a very toxic climate in Washington, D.C. The same Washington, D.C., that would lower the flag for Charlie Kirk, that says the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a mistake. How can you say getting rid of biases in race and sex and religion was a mistake? How can you say it was a mistake to fully enfranchise people to be Americans? That was a pivotal piece of legislation," he said.

He said Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans had a high tolerance for indecency.

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"But that's the same speaker, and that's what we're dealing with. They have a high tolerance for things that are very indecent and a very low regard for people that have been great Americans," he said. "I've had a conversation with the speaker. I mean, I've shared my personal remarks."

Johnson's office denied the request by the Jackson family to allow Jesse Jackson to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, citing precedent, according to the AP.

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Jesse Jackson, a longtime civil rights leader, two-time Democratic presidential candidate and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, died Feb. 17 at the age of 84.