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Former first lady of the United States Michelle Obama reacts during a ceremony honoring 50 years of equal pay at the U.S Open during the Women/Men's Singles First Round matches on Day One of the 2023 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2023 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.
However, her husband, former President Barack Obama, is confirmed to attend.
Donald Trump’s inauguration is coming up next week — and Michelle Obama will not be in attendance for it.
In a statement shared via CNN, the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama said that the former first lady of the United States will be skipping the inauguration. However, Barack is confirmed to attend.
“Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” the statement said.
Previously, Michelle also missed former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral last week, where she would’ve sat next to incoming President Trump if she had attended, according to Politico. The outlet, citing someone familiar with her schedule, reported that she had skipped the funeral because she had a scheduling conflict and was in Hawaii. Barack ended up sitting next to Trump at the funeral.
As CNN noted, Michelle not attending Trump’s inauguration isn’t common with the ceremony, with past presidents and their wives often showing up.
She did show up at his first inauguration, and spoke about the experience in 2023 on her The Light Podcast.
“To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display, there was no diversity, there was no color on that stage," Michelle said. “There was no reflection of the broader sense of America. Many people took pictures of me and they're like, you weren't in a good mood. No, I was not.”
In her 2018 memoir, Becoming, she wrote that she would “never forgive” Trump for the birther conspiracy theory he made against Barack.
“The whole thing was crazy and mean-spirited, of course, its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed,” she wrote. “But it was also dangerous, deliberately meant to stir up the wingnuts and kooks.”
“What if someone with an unstable mind loaded a gun and drove to Washington? What if that person went looking for our girls? Donald Trump, with his loud and reckless innuendos, was putting my family's safety at risk. And for this I'd never forgive him,” she added.
