Rev. Jesse Jackson’s son pleaded with President Trump to think about the slain victims of the federal Minnesota immigration crackdown Thursday in an unusual face-to-face rebuke at the National Prayer Breakfast.
Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Illinois) asked God to give Trump “greater clarity, greater courage and greater capacity” to govern the nation wisely.
Then, Jackson asked Trump to consider the families of the two U.S. citizens shot dead by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota last month.
“We pray that he would be mindful of the poor and…suffering happening in the families preparing to bury their loved ones in Minneapolis,” said Jackson, a co-chair of the breakfast along with Republican Rep. Ben Cline (R-Virginia).
Trump had his eyes closed as he stood directly behind Jackson and did not visibly react to the implicit criticism of his mass deportation campaign that has roiled Minnesota and other American cities.
Jackson, who represents a district in Chicago’s South Side, had vowed in a statement to “speak to the power of unity in this time of fragmentation.”
Jackson seemed to be referring to Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two protesters who were killed under questionable circumstances by immigration agents last month.
Trump initially defended the shootings but Wednesday conceded they “should not have happened.”
Jackson’s famous father, the civil rights leader, colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and onetime presidential candidate, is recovering after a health scare last year and was released from the hospital just before Christmas.
Trump didn’t directly address the Minneapolis tumult or Jackson’s remarks during his own freewheeling speech.
Setting aside religious decorum, he derided Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) as a “moron” for often voting against his legislative priorities.
He also said religious people shouldn’t vote for Democrats, even though he does not regularly attend church services himself.
“I don’t know how any person of faith can vote for a Democrat,” Trump said, drawing scattered groans from the bipartisan crowd. “I really don’t.”
The president said his own past suggestions that he might not make it to heaven were actually made in jest and that he actually believes he has a good chance of making it past the pearly gates.
“I really think I probably should make it (to heaven),” he said. “I mean, I’m not a perfect candidate, but I did a hell of a lot of good.”
