Jesse Jackson Jr. Criticizes Ex-Presidents at Fathers Memorial

Jesse Jackson Jr. publicly criticized former Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Bill Clinton for incorporating political commentary into a memorial service honoring his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, during a private gathering in Chicago on Saturday.

The elder Jackson, a prominent civil rights leader who founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, died last month at his Chicago home at age 84 after a prolonged battle with a rare neurological disorder. The public memorial took place Friday at Chicago's House of Hope, drawing a crowd of national figures including the three former presidents, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Vice President Kamala Harris. The service was intended to celebrate Jackson's decades-long activism on behalf of marginalized communities, economic justice, and human rights.

Prior to the event, Jackson Jr., a former U.S. congressman who is seeking to reclaim his former Illinois seat in upcoming elections, had urged participants to set aside partisan differences. "Do not bring your politics out of respect to Rev. Jesse Jackson and the life that he lived to these...