Michelle Obama, the Former first lady of the United States, has said that she won’t be attending the inauguration of Donald Trump which is slated for next week without providing an explanation for her decision.
“Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” a statement from the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama said.
The decision to skip attendance at Trump’s formal swearing-in ceremony marks a departure from tradition, where former presidents and their spouses typically participate. Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush will attend the inauguration, as confirmed by his office. Additionally, sources told CNN that former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton will also be present.
Michelle Obama did not attend a memorial service last week for former President Jimmy Carter. Former President Barack Obama attended the service at the National Cathedral in Washington.
Read also: Life after White House: Michelle Obama speaks on dealing with normalcy, change
Other former first ladies, including Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, were present at the Carter memorial. Michelle Obama has openly expressed her animosity toward Trump, accusing him of endangering her family’s safety through his rhetoric.
In 2017, she put those personal feelings aside after Trump won his first presidential election, welcoming the incoming president and Melania Trump to the White House for tea ahead of that year’s swearing-in.
“There were tears, there was that emotion. But then to sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display – there was no diversity, there was no colour on that stage, there was no reflection of the broader sense of America,” she said in a podcast in 2023.
The Trumps did not attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 amid the president-elect’s false claims that he won the 2020 election.
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