Why Michelle Obama Missed Jimmy Carter’s Funeral While Barack Appears Alone at the National Cathedral
Former First Lady Michelle Obama was conspicuously absent from former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday.
Mrs. Obama did not appear with her husband, former President Barack Obama, despite other living former presidents and first ladies making the trip to the Washington National Cathedral to pay their respects.
First Lady Jill Biden, former First Lady Laura Bush, former First Lady Hillary Clinton and former First Lady Melania Trump all attended the ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral
CNN reported that Michelle Obama had “scheduling conflicts.”
“Her advisors have told me she has planned conflicts,” CNN reporter Jeff Zeleney said of the network’s coverage of the funeral. “She’s actually still in Hawaii for an extended vacation.”
A spokesperson for Michelle Obama responded to the news in a statement to DailyMail.com.
‘Madam. “Obama sends her thoughts and prayers to the Carter family and all who loved and learned from the remarkable former president,” the statement said.
By skipping the funeral, Michelle appears to have avoided another meeting with Trump.
Former US President Barack Obama, President-elect Donald Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump arrive to attend the state funeral service for former US President Jimmy Carter
Former first lady Michelle Obama was absent from the ceremony due to a scheduling conflict
Barack Obama sat next to newly elected President Donald Trump during the ceremony.
The couple was spotted having a friendly chat for a few moments in the church.
Obama grinned and chuckled as Trump leaned over and spoke to the former president.
People took to social media to comment on Michelle Obama’s absence from the funeral, arguing that she was disrespectful to the office of the president and the Carter family.
‘Incredibly disrespectful, and this would be 24-hour news if Melania did this’ wrote Sara Rose on X.
Others cheered Michelle’s absence as a way to avoid Trump entirely.
“Michelle Obama must have discovered the seats and said, no, I’m staying in Hawaii,” social media said user Wu Tang Kids wrote.
‘Good for her!!!! Black women are clocked out and I am here for it!!!!” wrote journalist Terrance Omar.
The last time Michelle Obama was in the same room as Trump was in 2018 during former President HW Bush’s funeral.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama last made headlines in 2018 after awkwardly shaking hands with then-President Donald Trump at a funeral for former President George HW Bush
Donald Trump and his wife Melania sit next to each other during Carter’s funeral
At Bush’s funeral, the Obamas sat between then-President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump and former President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton.
Michelle Obama created headlines at Bush’s funeral after she awkwardly shook Trump’s hand and looked away.
The former First Lady said she would never forgive Trump for promoting the “birther” conspiracy in 2015 that her husband Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
“Donald Trump endangered the safety of my family with his loud and reckless innuendo. And for this I would never forgive him,” she wrote in her book Become.
She accused Trump of being “crazy and small-minded” for focusing on the attacks inspired by “underlying bigotry and xenophobia.”