Michelle Obama to skip Trump inauguration

Source: C-Span
Former US first lady Michelle Obama will skip the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump.
It will be the second time in a fortnight that Obama misses a gathering of former US leaders and their spouses, also attended by former presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W Bush.
Laura Bush and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton will join their husbands for the January 20 swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol, representatives said.
“Former president Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration,” said a statement from the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama that was shared with The Associated Press.
The office blamed a scheduling conflict for her decision not to attend. But her absence is notable given her previous criticism of Trump, who succeeded her husband in office.
Obama has written of her anger with Trump, who has spent years pushing the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not born in the US, and is therefore ineligible to be president. He was born in Hawaii.
Michelle Obama was also absent from last week’s state funeral in Washington for former President Jimmy Carter.
Her husband sat next to Trump, while Bush and Clinton were also there with their wives. Barack Obama and Trump chatted and laughed like old friends at the service, despite the history of political animosity between the Democratic former president and the returning Republican.
On arriving, Bush walked past Obama and gave him a belly tap but did not appear to acknowledge Trump. The moment led to speculation in the US about Trump’s standing among the exclusive club of living past presidents.
Bill Clinton will attend Monday’s swearing-in ceremony, a person familiar with the former president’s schedule confirmed for the AP. Hillary Clinton will also attend, a spokesperson said.
The Office of George W Bush said he and former first lady Laura Bush would be there.
All three former presidents and their wives attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017. Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump was also there, along with Carter.
Tech CEOs Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg will attend Monday’s inauguration, according to a source familiar with planning for the event.
The chief executives of Tesla, Amazon and Meta will be featured prominently at Trump’s swearing in, sitting with his cabinet nominees and other elected officials, according to NBC News, which first reported their attendance.
Bezos’ Amazon and Zuckerberg’s Meta are among the companies that have donated to Trump’s inauguration, each giving $US1 million ($A1.6 million).
Musk, the head of Tesla, SpaceX and X, spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars ($A404 billion) to help elect Trump in November.
-with AAP