Former first lady Michelle Obama did not attend the state funeral Thursday for former President Jimmy Carter.
Except for Michelle Obama, all of the living former presidents and their spouses were at the funeral, including Barack Obama, sitting in the front pews of Washington National Cathedral behind only 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.
“Former First Lady Michelle Obama is not in attendance at President Carter’s National Funeral Service,” according to the statement from spokesperson Crystal Carson. “Mrs. Obama sends her thoughts and prayers to the Carter family, and everyone 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 nation’s most prominent leaders of 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 to his Republican successor, Donald Trump. So did 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 gather again in Washington on Jan. 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.
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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
