Michelle Obama breaks silence on why she skipped Donald Trump’s inauguration following backlash over decision
Topics: Michelle Obama, Donald Trump, US News
Gregory Robinson
Featured Image Credit: Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images
Topics: Michelle Obama, Donald Trump, US News
Michelle Obama skipped Donald Trump’s inauguration and she has finally revealed why.
The former First Lady’s absence was apparent when the president's inauguration took place back in January. This happened shortly after she missed Jimmy Carter’s funeral, where she would have been seated beside Trump.
Obama even attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, which only seemed to add even more criticism this time around. Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary pointed out on Fox News earlier this year that he thinks the former her behaviour is 'wrong'.
"This tradition has gone on for over 100 years ... You have to respect it. I don't like what she's doing here. I'm against it. I think it's wrong," he said about Michelle missing the inauguration on January 20.
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Barack Obama, meanwhile, was among the guests at Trump’s second inauguration.
Despite rumours of a behind-the-scenes scandal, Mrs Obama says she stepped back from public events because “the choice that was right for me.”
Shedding light on the situation in the April 23 episode of her podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, Obama and guest Taraji P. Henson spoke candidly about the criticisms they face.
“People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason, they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart,” Obama said, referencing some of the headlines that speculated the reason behind her decision
“It took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right, but do the thing that was right for me, that was a hard thing for me to do.”
Obama, who hosts the podcast with her brother, even said she went to great lengths to ensure she followed through with her wish to skip the ceremony–she ensured she would not have an outfit ready for the big day.
"It started with not having anything to wear," Obama said. "I was like, if I'm not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don't even want to have a dress ready, right? Because it's so easy to just say, 'Let me do the right thing'."
The former FLOTUS said if her team didn’t prepare a dress, she knew it would be impossible to change her mind about going.
Obama said she’s practicing the ‘art of saying no’ when it feels like the correct decision.
“It's a muscle that you have to build. And I think we suffered, because it's almost like we started training late in life to build that muscle, right? I am just now starting to build it.”
Maybe we should all start embracing JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out).