So farewell then, Reverend Jesse Jackson. The civil-rights hero and two-time Democratic presidential candidate died this morning, aged 84.
Given his titanic status as an African-American leader, the first living president, former or current, to issue a statement was, naturally… Donald Trump.
“He was a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,’” wrote Trump on Truth Social just before 8:30 a.m. “He had much to do with the Election, without acknowledgment or credit, of Barack Hussein Obama, a man who Jesse could not stand.”
In fact, at the time of writing, Obama still hadn’t posted about the Reverend (former presidents Biden and Clinton issued statements this morning). The 44th president finally spoke up at 12:50 p.m., two minutes after this email was sent.
Thanks for reading Cockburn’s Diary from The Spectator. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support his work.
Cockburn casts his mind back to the 2008 election campaign, when Jackson was caught on a hot mic discussing Obama in rather un-Christlike terms. “I want to cut his nuts out,” the pastor said during a broadcasting break. “Barack, he is talking down to black people.”
On the topic of the late Reverend Jackson, Barack isn’t talking to any people…
On our radar
ON YOUR NOEM Secretary Kristi Noem’s spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is leaving the Department of Homeland Security. Her departure follows controversies around ICE enforcement and Noem’s relationship with her top aide, Corey Lewandowski.
ALIENS EXIST The Transportation Security Administration is now required to refer to all non-US citizens as “aliens.”
FALSE ALARM The Spectator’s London office was evacuated yesterday afternoon following a false report of a bomb threat. Everyone is safe.
The trials of Tracey
The freelance journalist Michael Tracey has always maintained a hardscrabble independence from any faction, sometimes striking left, other times right. Now he has embarked on his loneliest mission yet: to show that the Epstein saga is all flummery, nothing more than a moral panic. Tracey has spent the past few months standing vigil on X and Substack, attacking what he views as misinformation and challenging the vague calls for “accountability” for those who have appeared somewhere in the files.
Two days ago Tracey set out his stall: “I’m not just going to arbitrarily throw my hands in the air and start ignoring a wildly destructive mass hysteria engulfing much of the world right now, when I personally have uniquely comprehensive knowledge as to why the grounds for the hysteria are false. Someone’s gotta do it.”
Tracey, who has often been accused of contrarianism, has attacked everyone from Joe Rogan, who he accused of “SHEER LUNACY,” to the scuzziest of engagement-farming influencers (no, it was not in fact revealed in the files that Ellen DeGeneres feasts on human flesh). Probably someone had to step up to moderate some of the excesses of the Epstein fallout, but Cockburn certainly doesn’t envy Tracey this task.
Moore problems
Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, increasingly bandied about as a Democratic presidential candidate, said in a Sunday night town hall with CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell that he will “bow to no one,” as though he’s King Kong or some brave little hobbit. Well, Presidents’ Day certainly tested Moore’s defiance: he came under direct fire from the big man in the White House himself.
At issue is a sewer line breach in Maryland that has caused a “massive Ecological Disaster” in the Potomac river, according to President Trump. On Truth Social, Trump blamed Moore, saying, “This is the same Governor who cannot rebuild a Bridge,” referring to the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which is currently under reconstruction but won’t be done until at least 2030. “I cannot allow incompetent Local ‘Leadership’ to turn the River in the Heart of Washington into a Disaster Zone,” Trump said, with that exact capitalization scheme.
Moore did not bend. His spokesperson claimed that the federal government is responsible for the sewage leak, and that the Environmental Protection Agency refused to participate in Friday’s congressional hearing about the problem. “Apparently the Trump administration hadn’t gotten the memo that they’re actually supposed to be in charge here,” Moore’s spokesperson said. “The Potomac isn’t a talking point, and the people of the region deserve serious leadership that meets the moment.” Hopefully the two sides figure out how to work together soon. In the meantime, Cockburn is panic-buying Brita filters.
Comments