Biden tells mourners he’s ‘smarter than most’ at Jackson memorial

Former President Joe Biden At the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s memorial service on Friday, she told mourners that he was “a lot smarter than most of you”; is a pointed remark that stood out during the tribute to the late civil rights leader.

Biden made the comment while describing how he was made fun of as a child for his stutter, and how his speech impediments were often mistaken for a lack of intelligence.

“If I told you I had a cleft palate or a club foot, none of you would laugh,” Biden said. “But it’s okay to laugh at stuttering. It’s the only place where people think you’re stupid.

“Oh, really? I’m a lot smarter than most of you,” he added, before quickly turning to a broader point. “But all kidding aside, it makes you feel really small.”

Biden made this statement during a meeting. Memorial service in Chicago It brought together prominent Democratic leaders and civil rights figures to honor Jackson’s decades-long political influence.

former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Kamala Harris and the Rev. Al Sharpton, also attended the ceremony.

The event was held at the 10,000-seat House of Hope arena, where hundreds gathered to celebrate Jackson’s life and legacy.

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Former President Joe Biden speaks at the life service celebration of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson Sr. at the House of Hope arena in Chicago on March 6, 2026. Jackson died on February 17 after a long battle with progressive supranuclear palsy. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Jackson, who has died aged 84, rose to prominence as a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement. He later founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and organized two Democratic presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 that increased Black voter turnout and reshaped the party’s electoral coalition.

Throughout the ceremony, speakers praised Jackson’s ability to forge political alliances and raise issues affecting marginalized communities.

Biden, who has spoken frequently about overcoming a childhood stutter, framed his remarks around resilience and the lasting impact of being ridiculed as a youth.

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Barack Obama and Joe Biden at the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson’s Public Celebration of Life and Homecoming Services held at the House of Hope arena on March 6, 2026 in Chicago. (Deadline via Earl Gibson III/Getty Images)

In his speech later, Biden claimed to the assembled mourners that “the African continent will be the greatest continent in the world.”

“I remember telling Jesse that I knew I knew a guy in South Africa,” former President Biden recalled. “I was going to see the name is Nelson Mandela. And I ask Jesse, how’s it going? By the way, you’re actually seeing it. You know, the African continent is going to be the largest continent in the world by population in 2050, the largest in the entire world. Watch, man. Watch.”

His “smarter than most of you” remark was quickly added to the growing list of out-of-context gaffes directed at the former president, and social media users weighed in on it online.

“That’s an odd thing to say at a memorial service,” one commenter wrote under a post of the viral moment shared by TikTok user Libs.

Another said: “This man’s never-ending comedy. I’m so happy he’s back in the public eye.”

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Outside of Biden’s remarks, the memorial largely focused on Jackson’s legacy as a civil rights leader and helped shape that legacy. modern Democratic Party and expanding political participation in the United States.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond, Bradford Betz and Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.

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