An attempt by former Donald Trump lawyer Alina Habba to score political points against Kamala Harris backfired spectacularly when she accidentally confused civil rights icon Jesse Jackson with baseball legend Reggie Jackson during a televised appearance.
Habba, who recently lost her appointment as a U.S. attorney in New Jersey after being installed in the role by Trump, appeared on Newsmax where she tried to criticize Harris over remarks the vice president made at the funeral of the longtime civil rights leader.
Instead, Habba confidently delivered a bizarre mix-up.
“If you look at Kamala Harris’ comments of desperation at Reggie Jackson’s funeral, and she didn’t even know him, if you look at this, they’re reaching so far,” Habba said during the interview.
The problem: the funeral she referenced was for Rev. Jesse Jackson, one of the most influential civil rights figures of the past half century — not Reggie Jackson, the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics slugger known as “Mr. October.”
Reggie Jackson, in fact, is alive and well.
The clip quickly circulated online, where critics and commentators mocked Habba’s error, turning what appeared to be an attempted political jab into a viral embarrassment.
BlueSky users piled on within hours.
“She missed the name on the checked box,” joked one user, Prickly Pair.
Another commenter, Julia Dillard, was less charitable, writing bluntly: “It’s well known that she’s a moron.”
Others noted the irony that Habba had just been accused of deliberately mispronouncing Harris’ first name before immediately confusing two prominent Black public figures.
“Well, that’s just…perfect,” wrote Lisa Pierce on BlueSky. “First the deliberate mispronunciation of VP Harris’ FIRST name … then the, oopsie, mixing up of the Black men.”
Some commenters also pointed out that Habba’s criticism of Harris — claiming the vice president didn’t know Jesse Jackson — was inaccurate.
Harris has longstanding ties to the Jackson family.
One social media user noted that Jackson had visited Harris’ home and that his daughter, Santita Jackson, attended Howard University at the same time as Harris.
“In fact, his daughter Santita was her classmate at Howard University,” the commenter wrote.
Others focused on the strange nature of the mix-up itself.
“Reggie Jackson might have something to say about this,” one user joked, while another added that the baseball Hall of Famer is “79, alive and well.”
The moment quickly became the latest example of Habba drawing online ridicule.
Habba rose to national prominence as one of Trump’s personal attorneys during several of his legal battles, but she has often been mocked by critics for misstatements and controversial television appearances.
Her brief tenure as a U.S. attorney in New Jersey also drew criticism, with opponents arguing the appointment was political.
By the end of the Newsmax segment, Habba’s attempt to attack Harris had largely been overshadowed by the viral blunder.
