At Jesse Jackson's funeral, Pistons legend Isiah Thomas calls Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton 'presidents'

Tony Paul, The Detroit News on Mar 6, 2026

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Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas has never been shy when making his points.

As one of several high-profile speakers at the funeral for Rev. Jesse Jackson in Chicago on Friday, Thomas mentioned the "five" former presidents in attendance. It wasn't a slip of Thomas' tongue.

Thomas went on to call them "President Harris" and "President Clinton," drawing a standing ovation from the crowd, and smiles and laughter from former vice president Kamala Harris and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, seated next to one other in the front pew. Both, of course, lost their bid for the presidency to the same man, President Donald Trump.

Also in attendance were former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who also spoke at the service, as did Harris. Trump was not in attendance.

Thomas spoke for more than 15 minutes, fighting back tears. He called Jackson, "Our Chicago Nelson Mandela."

"We thank you for the courage, we thank you for the faith, we thank you for believing in us," Thomas said. "He had a way of connecting personally with us ... when he said, 'Keep hope alive.'

"For us and all of you here from Chicago know in the '60s, we felt like there was no hope; hope was lost, hope was gone. This man gave us hope, gave us life, gave us energy."

Thomas, 64, was born and raised in Chicago and played collegiately at Indiana, before going on to a Hall of Fame career with the Pistons, with whom he won two NBA championships.

Jackson, the former civil rights leader who himself made two long-shot bids for the presidency in the 1980s, even winning the Michigan primary in 1988, died last month at the age of 84.

A crowd of thousands attended the public funeral Friday at House of Hope on the south side of Chicago, where the ceremony lasted more than five hours.

A private ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, and Motown music legend Stevie Wonder is expected to perform.