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Politician’s Positive Posts Attract Millions

by | Fri, Apr 28 2023

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A rookie US Congressman from North Carolina is going viral on social media for all the right reasons.

Jeff Jackson is a Democrat, a former soldier, and a practicing Christian.

He recently looked into his video camera and told everyone he was wrong to pre-judge an unnamed Republican lawmaker.

“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,” he said on the video.

His social media confession attracted more than two million views.

The lawmaker admitted to being shocked that people cared so much.

“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.

It’s a running theme in Jeff Jackson’s online videos.

CBN News reports it seems open honesty and the willingness to admit mistakes and ignorance is refreshingly popular.

Some of the Congressman’s videos have garnered more than 20 million views.

Jeff Jackson is looking to add to his 1.3 million followers.

His aim is to find common ground.

“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 [Congress] 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,” Congressman Jackson told CBN News.

Even many Republicans say they appreciate his style.

Jeff Jackson believes lawmakers “have been underestimating the American people and their capacity for nuance, detail, and substance.”

He credits his time in the Army, where he still serves as a Major in the National Guard, as the place where he learned to work with anyone no matter their creed or colour.

The Bibles in his Capitol office are gifts he received for serving in the North Carolina legislature.

Another place he preached teamwork came much earlier.

“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.'”