Jesse Lee Peterson (born May 22, 1949) is an
American conservative radio host and broadcaster, politician and pastor of Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), a Christian ministry. He is the host of The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show and The Fallen State TV.[2]
Peterson was born on May 22, 1949, in
Midway, Alabama, and raised in
Corner Hill by his grandparents, who worked on the Comer family
plantation where his great-grandparents had worked as slaves a century earlier.[7] His mother and father moved to
Gary, Indiana, and
East Chicago, Indiana, respectively, where they separately started new families of their own. He was born with a
cleft palate that was not repaired until his teens.[8] Peterson lived with his mother and stepfather in Gary as a teenager, briefly attending
Edison High School. He then returned to Alabama and graduated from high school before moving to
Los Angeles.[7] He attended
Los Angeles City College for one year. He says that he started his own janitorial service in 1989.[8]
In 1990, Peterson founded BOND (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny), later registered as a religious non-profit. BOND has close ties to the Tea Party movement. Advisory board members include
Sean Hannity[9] and
Dennis Prager.[10]
In 2001, while meeting with
Toyota executives in Los Angeles, Peterson accused Jackson of threatening him and his son
Jonathan Jackson of assaulting him. In 2006, a jury cleared Jesse Jackson of the threat allegation, but was split on his son's assault allegation. Conservative activist organization
Judicial Watch provided attorneys for Peterson in the lawsuit.[23]
Peterson's radio show was simulcast on
Newsmax TV in 2017–2018.[28]
In June 2019, video-sharing platform
YouTube demonetized Peterson's channel, amongst many others, under an updated
hate speech policy.[29][30]
Peterson appears in the 2020 political documentary Uncle Tom, produced by radio host
Larry Elder.[31]
Political views
Peterson has stated that he used to be a
Democrat but became a
Republican in his late 30s. He attributed the change to his Christian beliefs.[2]
Racism
Peterson
opposes allowing Muslims to serve in Western governments, and says that
racism does not exist. Instead, he believes that every conflict is a spiritual "battle between good and evil".[2][32] He has spoken out against
Kwanzaa and
Black History Month.[33] Peterson's views have been described by some authors as being consistent with
white supremacy, and it has been suggested that white nationalists are encouraged by his rhetoric and compelled to promote him, because Peterson's blackness reduces the shock value of opinions that would be considered outrageous if a white person had expressed them.[5][6]
In 2005, he stated that most African Americans stranded in
New Orleans during
Hurricane Katrina were relying on the government to save them.[34] In 2012, Peterson said about black
unemployment, "One of the things that I would do is take all black people back to the South and put them on the
plantation.... They need a good hard education on what it is to work."[35][36] He has called
Nelson Mandela an "evil man" and said that
South Africa was better off under
apartheid.[37] In 2020, he called then-U.S. President
Donald Trump "the Great White Hope".[38][39]
In 2013, Peterson called
Trayvon Martin a "thug". CNN host
Piers Morgan called Peterson's comments "quite offensive".[40] In 2015 on political commentator
Sean Hannity's show, Peterson defended Michael Slager, a former
North Charleston, South Carolina police officer who killed
Walter Lamar Scott, an unarmed black man by shooting him in the back. Peterson criticized "angry black folks in this country" who disobey instructions of police, while Hannity pushed back against Peterson and called the killing "cold-blooded". Upset, fellow panelist
Leo Terrell abruptly walked out of the interview prematurely.[41][42] In 2017, Slager was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the killing.
In 2018, Peterson compared the
Black Lives Matter movement to the
Ku Klux Klan, saying that each could be described as an "agitative organization founded by... black lesbians and homosexuals." In response, Good Morning Britain host
Piers Morgan accused Peterson of homophobia, and Peterson's microphone was muted before he was kicked off the show.[4][43][44]
In 2019, Peterson called activist
Andrew Yang a "communist" and "beta male" for his
universal basic income proposal. Peterson said Yang, an American born in New York, "should go back to China or wherever he came from."[45]
In 2022, Peterson gave a speech at the third
America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), which was also attended by
Nick Fuentes and
Marjorie Taylor Greene. AFPAC has been described as a white nationalist political action committee. The
Anti-Defamation League described Peterson's speech as the "one of the most racist" of all delivered at the event, in which he described black people as the destroyers of America.[46]
Marriage and women
Peterson opposes premarital sex. During an interview with former
SlutWalk organizer
Amber Rose, Peterson responded to the question "if women are sluts what does that make you?" by stating men are "slut makers".[39][47]
Peterson's views on women have been described by some as
misogynistic.[3] Peterson stated in a 2012 sermon that "one of the greatest mistakes America made was to allow women the opportunity to vote." He stated that women "can't handle power in the right way", that they "have no patience", and "don't have love". Political analyst
Kirsten Powers confronted Peterson on
Sean Hannity's program on
Fox News, accusing him of using his status as a pastor to preach hatred and fear of women.[48][49][50]
In 2019, a person who was considering marrying a woman who had a previous child conceived by rape called Peterson's radio show and was told by Peterson: "Do not marry a woman...who already has children. It's bad enough on kids when they don't have both parents, it's worse when a so-called
step-parent steps in ... they want their natural father and natural mother, and especially their natural father."[51]
Personal life
Peterson has one son. He has been engaged twice but never married.[1]
On July 13, 2022, Church Militant, a conservative Catholic news and commentary site, published allegations of Peterson engaging in
same-sex relationships, citing interviews with two former male associates.[52]
Published works
From Rage to Responsibility: Black Conservative Jesse Lee Peterson and America Today, with
Dennis Prager and Brad Stetson. Paragon House, 2000,
ISBN1-55778-788-3
^
abBlumenthal 2005, p.
23 "For white nationalists determined to intimidate and marginalize aspirant ethnic minorities, Peterson could embolden their crusade. It's no wonder both factions have promoted him so aggressively"
^"AFPAC III: Elected Officials Support White Supremacist Event". Jesse Lee Peterson, a Black pastor and radio show host, ended up giving one of the most racist speeches of the evening, talking about how whites built the country and that Blacks are destroying what whites have created.