Michelle Obama will not attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral

Former first lady Michelle Obama did not participate in state funeral Thursday for former chairman Jimmy Carter.

Apart from Michelle Obama, all the living former presidents and their spouses were at the funeral, including Barack Obamasitting in the front seats of Washington National Cathedral behind only president Joe Biden and deputy chairman Kamala Harris and their spouses.

Michelle Obama’s office confirmed that 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 spokeswoman Crystal Carson. “Mrs. 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 nation’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 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 January 20, when Trump is sworn in for his second term in the White House. Michelle Obama’s spokesman did not immediately say whether the former first lady would attend the inauguration.