Former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday was arguably the most significant event in Washington, D.C., before the inauguration of the incoming administration. But did one former first lady skip the ceremony because she didn’t want to sit by the president-elect?
That’s, at least, the story that was flying around social media on Thursday afternoon.
The information was based on a report from Politico, with the headline, “Michelle Obama, who would have sat by Donald Trump, misses Carter funeral.”
Trump, the outlet noted, “instead sat next to former President Barack Obama. The two chatted for several minutes before the funeral began.”
Obama is acting quite friendly to someone he usually pretends to despise. It’s almost like Trump isn’t really that bad. Imagine that.
pic.twitter.com/xAuq5JVSFU— Damani Felder (@TheDamaniFelder) January 9, 2025
This quickly turned into Michelle Obama boycotting the funeral because she didn’t want to sit next to Trump.
“BREAKING: POLITICO reports that Michelle Obama skipped President Jimmy Carter’s funeral because she would have had to sit next to President-elect Donald Trump,” wrote Patrick Webb of the website Leading Report on X.
Others echoed his sentiments:
Michelle Obama is on vacation in Hawaii & skipped Carter’s funeral because she didn’t want to sit next to Donald Trump.
A former FLOTUS too petty to pay her respects at a former president’s funeral
Pathetic & classless, but it’s nice to know she’s still seething over DJT’s win. pic.twitter.com/hpSFU5rNpI
— Reaganite 🫡❄️🎄 (@emperoreaganite) January 9, 2025
BREAKING🚨: POLITICO reports that Michelle Obama skipped President Jimmy Carter’s funeral because she would have had to sit next to President-elect Donald Trump.
— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) January 9, 2025
Politico is now reporting that Michelle Obama purposely skipped Jimmy Carter’s funeral because she would have to sit next to the greatest President the world has ever seen — Donald J. Trump. DATS RACIST!
— Suburban Black Man 🇺🇸 (@niceblackdude) January 9, 2025
So, what’s the truth? Well, in further proof that the community notes system on X does its magic, consider the note attached to Webb’s initial post:
BREAKING: POLITICO reports that Michelle Obama skipped President Jimmy Carter’s funeral because she would have had to sit next to President-elect Donald Trump.
— Patrick Webb (@RealPatrickWebb) January 9, 2025
As you can see, it’s not that the former first lady snubbed the funeral after seeing who she was seated next to, it’s that she had prior engagements.
That being said, it’s still worth noting that Michelle Obama’s non-presence was odd. According to the Associated Press, the only reports about her reason for it had to do with an “extended vacation” that unfortunately led to her lack of availability at the National Cathedral or any of the other services for Carter, who died at the age of 100 on Dec. 29.
“Former First Lady Michelle Obama is not in attendance at President Carter’s National Funeral Service,” a statement from Obama spokeswoman Crystal Carson read.
“Mrs. Obama sends her thoughts and prayers to the Carter family, and everyone who loved and learned from the remarkable former President.”
However, one cannot fact-check “odd” reasons for not being in attendance at a former president’s funeral or possible reasons for that oddity. Indeed, one cannot even fact-check the fact that all five living presidents, former or current, were at the funeral, in addition to every ex-first lady but Michelle Obama and current Vice President Kamala Harris and three former vice presidents (and their spouses, where applicable): Mike Pence, Al Gore, and Dan Quayle.
In fact, the only notable absence from the executive wing aside from Michelle Obama was former President George H. W. Bush’s Vice President Dick Cheney, who also didn’t attend. Whether or not that was due to Trump as well — as you might have heard, the Cheney and Trump families are not especially friendly at the moment and the former veep’s daughter may be getting a preemptive pardon from the current president before President-elect Trump takes office — one doesn’t know.
However, it’s still worth noting that both the Cheneys and Michelle Obama were among the most vociferous campaigners against Trump on the campaign trail, with the former first lady once implying that a vote between Harris and Trump was, for men, a vote between women’s “lives” and their “anger and disappointment.”
One can perhaps make guesses as to why an “extended vacation” would lead to a former first lady’s absence at the funeral, but they are just that: guesses. As for the facts, the claim that Michelle Obama missed the services for Jimmy Carter because she would have to sit next to Donald Trump doesn’t hold water with what’s known.
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