- The first and second couple ignored each other during the funeral
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- Follow DailyMail.com’s live updates on Jimmy Carter’s funeral
The first and second couple were visibly icy towards each other during President Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden entered after Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. There was no exchange between the foursome as they sat next to each other.
There was visible love loss between the Bidens and Harris and Emhoff after a tense 2024 election cycle in which the VP replaced her boss atop the Democrat presidential ticket and still lost in historic fashion to newly elected President Donald Trump.
A senior government official insisted to DailyMail.com that the couples had chatted together for 30 minutes before taking their seats at the funeral.
“It was very warm, it was very loving,” the official noted, claiming that Dr. Jill Biden and Harris also “hugged and kissed” after the ceremony ended.
But even CNN anchor Jake Tapper couldn’t ignore the growing resentment and tension.
“You didn’t see a particularly warm greeting between the First Couple and the Second Couple,” he noted as a livestream video of the Bidens’ entry into the National Cathedral played Thursday morning.
Joe and Jill didn’t exchange words, shake hands or acknowledge in any way that Harris and Emhoff were sitting next to them in the front row. Likewise, the second couple was unable to welcome their cohorts to the front row.
Dr. Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris sat next to each other but did not acknowledge each other during the late President Jimmy Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC on Thursday, January 9.
A body language expert played down the brief altercations, claiming Harris “seemed to be ignoring everyone” at the funeral.
However, Judi James acknowledged how Harris and Dr. Biden “seemed to create as much virtual space between them as possible.”
The two women, she noted, “sat staring grimly into space while the others around them chatted.”
There were a few more awkward encounters at the funeral of Carter, who died last month at the age of 100.
Former Second Lady Karen Pence did not stand as Trump and former and future First Lady Melania Trump moved to the second row to take their seats for the funeral.
Melania extended her hand to Karen as her husband shook hands and spoke briefly with his former Vice President Mike Pence and former Vice President Al Gore, both of whom supported the arrival of the new president.
Karen Pence remained seated and did not extend her arm to return Melania’s outstretched hand.
The first and second couple did not exchange glances, handshakes or greetings as they sat next to each other during President Carter’s live-streamed funeral.
Since Harris took over from Biden – and especially since her loss in November – there has been a clear divide between the current first and second couple.
Specifically, First Lady Jill Biden appears to harbor a lot of anger toward Harris — and it’s been increasingly in public view in recent days.
A Wall Street Journal report last month noted that the divide existed long before this election cycle.
Journal sources show that Dr. Biden for Harris goes back to when she taunted her husband on stage in June 2019 during the first Democratic debate of the 2020 cycle.
And just six days after Democrats returned the White House to Trump in November, Dr. Stone-faced Biden next to Harris and Emhoff during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
Then, at the Kennedy Center Honors on December 8, Joe and Jill Biden ignored Harris and Emhoff as they entered the theater to take their seats next to the nation’s No. 2 couple. The Bidens didn’t even look in their direction as they greeted the crowd.
The Journal’s report last month details how the final moments of Biden’s presidency have been mired in a general “depressing” and “exhausting” atmosphere, according to White House aides.