Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama will not attend the inauguration of Donald Trump's second presidency. The office of Barack Obama's wife issued a statement on this matter.
On Tuesday, Michelle Obama's office announced that she will not attend Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. “Former President Barack Obama has confirmed his participation in the 60th Inaugural Ceremony. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming Inauguration,” we read in a statement.
As CNN points out, the decision not to participate in Trump's official swearing-in ceremony is against the accepted tradition – both former presidents and their wives usually participate in it. Donald Trump himself and his wife Melania did not attend President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021. Previously, the Republican questioned the results of the elections, which – as he claimed – he had won. Trump was the first president since Andrew Johnson (he was US president from 1865 to 1869) who did not appear at the inauguration of his successor.
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Michelle Obama and the absence from Trump's inauguration
No reason was given for the former first lady's absence from the ceremony, but CNN indicates that in the past she had openly expressed her dislike for Trump, whom she accused, among other things, of endangering the safety of her family through his aggressive rhetoric. In October last year, she supported the Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris, who was competing with him for the presidency.
In January 2017, Michelle Obama and her husband attended the inauguration of Trump's first term. Years later, she revealed what she felt during that swearing-in. – There were tears, there were emotions. And then we sat on that stage and watched the opposite of what we represented: there was no diversity, there was no color on that stage, there was no reflection of the broader sense of America,” she said on “The Light Podcast” in 2023.
Michelle Obama at Trump's inauguration in 2017Reuters
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Guests at the inauguration of Donald Trump's presidency
George Bush and his wife Laura Bush will be present at Donald Trump's inauguration, as announced by the office of the former US president. CNN reports, citing its sources, that Bill and Hillary Clinton will also take part in the ceremony.
Among other guests, the former president announced her participation in the presidential inauguration Georgia Salome Zurabishvili. MSNBC reports that the invited guests will also include: former president Brazil Jair Bolsonaroand according to Politico, the leader of the French far-right Reconquista group, Eric Zemmour, will also take part in the inauguration. Beijing said China would be represented by a “high-ranking official”but his name was not revealed.
It is already known that the Polish president will not take part in the ceremony. His office announced that “on January 20-24 (Monday to Friday), Andrzej Duda will participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.”
Main photo source: Reuters