Alina Habba, the recently ousted U.S. attorney of New Jersey, mixed up the names of Jesse Jackson and Reggie Jackson while complaining about remarks that Vice President Kamala Harris gave at the civil rights activists’ funeral last week.
Habba’s gaffe occurred Monday on Newsmax as she was criticizing Democrats, and in particular former Vice President Kamala Harris, over their comments at Jesse Jackson’s funeral and wider views on the conflict in Iran.
“The fact that they’re trying to spin this [Iran] into a midterm situation is beyond the pale of ridiculous and frankly not surprising by them,” Habba told Newsmax anchor Ed Henry.
“I think if you look at polls, Kamala Harris’s comments of desperation at Reggie Jackson’s funeral, and she didn’t even know him. You know, if you look at this, they’re reaching so far,” Habba added.
However, she appeared to mix up the civil rights activist with Reggie Jackson – a 79-year-old baseball Hall of Famer who is still alive. Harris also did know the late civil rights activist, having appeared alongside him at public events, The Daily Beast reports.
Habba appeared to be referencing remarks Harris made at Jesse Jackson’s funeral Friday, in which the former vice president told the crowd, “I predicted a lot about what’s happening right now.”
Henry corrected Habba’s flub, reminding her, “It was Jesse Jackson’s funeral.”
Habba interjected, “Jesse Jackson. Excuse me.”
Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist who once worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died at 84 years old in February.
Habba accused Harris of “pretending” she was closer to Jesse Jackson to “use” his funeral like a “[Democratic National Committee] campaign.”
Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of Jesse Jackson, had accused former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, all of whom spoke at Jesse Jackson’s funeral, of not knowing his father well.
“This was a DNC campaign, this wasn’t a funeral, let me be very clear. It was so sad that they would take advantage of a situation like this. And I feel for the Jackson family that they would be, frankly, used in that regard.” Habba said.
Habba, a fierce defender of the president, also lashed out at people who are unsupportive of Trump’s recent airstrike campaign in Iran that has ignited a war in the Middle East. She told Newsmax that Trump “should be commended” for going after the former Ayatollah of Iran, Ali Khamenei.
Habba represented Trump in several of his trials, including the defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll that resulted in the president owing more than $83 million.
The president had initially tapped his former personal lawyer to serve as U.S. attorney of New Jersey, but after failing to get her confirmed by the Senate, she was removed by the state’s federal trial judges and replaced with their own nominee.
After a legal back-and-forth between the Justice Department and the state, a judge ruled Habba was unlawfully serving in her position as the top prosecutor in New Jersey.
Habba is now serving as a senior adviser to the president.
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