The mainstream media made a big deal of the fact that Donald Trump skipped Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration.
"President Trump announced Friday that he will not attend the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, ending two months of speculation about his decision," CBS News reported on Jan. 8, 2021. "He will be the first president in more than 150 years — and only the fifth in U.S. history — to skip the ceremony where his successor is sworn in."
I wonder what the narrative will be regarding the news that former First Lady Michelle Obama is skipping the inauguration. Her office confirmed to CBS News that she will be a no-show on Monday.
"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 read.
Michelle was also a no-show at Jimmy Carter's funeral — the only living former first lady to skip it — which raises some interesting questions. Some might wonder if she and Barack are experiencing marital problems. She reportedly missed Carter's funeral because she was on an extended vacation in Hawaii.
I certainly can't discount the theory that the Obamas are having marital problems — I mean, come on, both are insufferable people — but something tells me this decision is mostly political.
Michelle was present for Trump's first inauguration, and she recalled it as a traumatic experience during an episode of her podcast back in 2023.
"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," she 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. But you had to hold it together like you do for eight years. And then you walk through the Capitol, you wave goodbye, you get on Marine One, and you take your last flight off flying over the Capitol where there weren't that many people there. We saw it, by the way."
She continued, "Then we went to Andrews Air Force Base, said goodbye to the military, got on Air Force One, and when those doors shut, I cried for 30 minutes straight, uncontrollable sobbing because that's how much we were holding it together for eight years without really being able to show it all. So I guess that's the long way of saying, Yeah, no, I had to count my steps for eight years. So yeah, that was real."
Michelle Obama’s absence from the upcoming inauguration is a revealing reminder of the selective outrage that defines our political discourse. When Donald Trump opted out of Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the media framed it as a seismic breach of tradition. Now, with Michelle Obama’s conspicuous no-show, the silence from those same critics is deafening. She may not be a former president, but as a former first lady, her absence is no less symbolic.
The fact is, Michelle’s absence speaks volumes — not about the incoming administration but about her own inability to move beyond the politics of division. For someone who claims to embody hope and inclusion, she consistently chooses to showcase resentment and disdain instead.
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