Former first lady Michelle Obama did not attend the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter on Thursday.
Besides Michelle Obama, all living former presidents and their spouses were at the funeral, including Barack Obama, who sat in the front pews of the Washington National Cathedral, alone behind President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses.
Michelle Obama’s office confirmed she did not attend the funeral but did not say where she was or why she was absent.
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“Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not be attending President Carter’s National Funeral Service,” said spokesperson Crystal Carson’s statement. Obama sends her thoughts and prayers to the Carter family and all who loved and learned from the remarkable former president.”
CNN reported before the funeral that the former first lady had a scheduling conflict and remained in Hawaii, where she had been on an “extended vacation.”
State funerals for former presidents are among the few events that bring together the country’s most prominent leaders, past and present, along with dignitaries from all branches of the U.S. government and representatives of foreign leaders.
Barack Obama, a Democrat, appeared to speak cordially with his Republican successor, Donald Trump. This also applied to former Democratic President Bill Clinton and his Republican successor, George W. Bush. Trump shook hands with his own former vice president, Mike Pence, who was a loyal ally until he refused to go along with Trump’s efforts to remain president after losing the 2020 election to Biden, a Democrat.
The dignitaries will meet again in Washington on January 20, when Trump is sworn in for his second term in the White House. Michelle Obama’s spokesperson did not immediately say whether the former first lady would attend the inauguration.
