Newly elected Christian Congressman, Jeff Jackson, has publicly admitted to being wrong on social media. The Congressman’s admission came in with a video he had made earlier in the week, which had sparked conversations among his constituents and social media followers.
“I’m still brand new to Congress and recently I got something totally wrong. And I’m going to tell you what I want to do differently going forward because of what I got wrong,” Rep. Jeff Jackson said in the video posted to TikTok and Instagram. The video garnered over 2 million views, with loads of comments.
“I knew this person by reputation. And it was not good. I had seen them on TV and Twitter, and it was clear this was not someone I’m going to be able to work with. But it’s important to be polite so I said ‘Hi, my name is Jeff Jackson, I’m the new guy from North Carolina.’ And then we talked for 20 minutes. This person is brilliant,” the video continued.
In the video that went viral, he had talked about a notion he had about a particular congressman and the reaction of the people towards it. “I’ve been surprised, frankly, that I’ve gotten the reaction I have by just looking in the camera and not trying to make people angry,” he said. He further talked about the time he served as National Guard in the Army and how it taught him togetherness. He has been given a lot of Bibles lately which are placed in his Capitol office.
“The first public speaking of my entire life was through Youth Group during Youth Sunday when I got to lead the children’s sermon… I had told them, try to be like Jesus for a day, and my Pastor came up and said, ‘Jeff they’re supposed to be like Jesus every day.’ I said, ‘They’re five years old, let’s shoot for one day and see how that goes.'”
The admission of fault from a public figure is rare in today’s political climate, and has garnered both praise and criticism from various corners of the internet. Some have lauded Jackson for his humility and honesty, while others have accused him of flip-flopping on his beliefs and pandering to the public.
Despite the backlash, Jackson remains steadfast in his commitment to serving his constituents with integrity and honesty.
“I think it’s important when it comes to rebuilding the loss of trust because there’s an enormous loss of trust for this institution and the people who serve there. You can’t fix that by saying, ‘No, you have to trust me.’ You’ve got to fix that by starting with transparency, which is as simple as saying, ‘Here’s what I did today, here’s what I’m going to do tomorrow.’ That’s where trust starts.”
As Congressman Jackson settles into his new role, it remains to be seen how he continues transparency in his political career. However, one thing is certain – his willingness to admit his mistakes and learn from them sets an important example for all politicians and public figures.
There has been several comments on his leadership abilities and some even thought he could run for US President.
If I had my pick, I'd want John Stewart. No way he'd ever run though.
I really liked a few things I saw from Rep. Jeff Jackson although he's not in that kind of position right now
No idea who it's going to be though. Preferably someone who isn't Biden or Trump
— Peter Oldani (@PeterOldani) March 25, 2023
