Jackson Urges Clinton to Remain in Office, Calls for March of Support

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Monday criticized President Clinton’s behavior but urged him to remain in office.

Jackson, at a downtown Los Angeles news conference, also called for a march on the Capitol in Washington the day the Senate’s impeachment trial begins.

“Less than candor from the president about a private sex act was undeniably a lame attempt to protect the honor of his family and office,” Jackson said in the American Civil Liberties Union office. “But it clearly does not rise to the level of treason, a crime against the state, or a threat to our national security. The president’s tormentors have lost all sense of proportional justice.”

Jackson said he spoke with Clinton by telephone Friday and said he seemed focused.

“He was clear that this Congress wouldn’t defy the American public, and he was ready to accept their vote,” Jackson said. “He will resist; he will not resign.”

Jackson said he does not believe there will be a trial in the Senate. But if there is, he said, people would mobilize and organize a “national day of resistance” in Washington to urge members of Congress to only censure Clinton.

“The considered opinion of the vast majority of American citizens must not be ignored any longer,” Jackson said.

“The House Republicans, by prohibiting a vote on censure, have invoked a unilateral gag order, denying the minority and members of their own party the right to vote their conscience,” he said.

Drawing on Biblical references, Jackson said the House Republicans “do not pass Jesus’ test when He said, ‘Let those without sin cast the first stone.’ We are all sinners saved by grace and should not attempt to disgrace someone else to make ourselves appear virtuous.”