Melania Trump breaks with tradition at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral
The former US First Lady attended the memorial service for Rosalynn Carter without husband Donald, where Jimmy Carter made a rare appearance for his beloved wife.
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Melania Trump caused a bit of a hoo-ha after showing up to the memorial service for former US first lady Rosalynn Carter dressed in grey.
Trump, who attended without husband and former US President Donald, was the only one among the living first ladies in attendance not wearing black. And it didn’t go unnoticed.
“Why is it every one of the dignitaries in the front row seats are appropriately wearing Black except Melania Trump? ” wrote one social media user.
They continued: Do you think it was a conscious decision to stand out for TV viewing audience and MAGAs? She has Zero class.”
But others called her “brave” for attending without her husband, and another said she “upstaged” the rest.
Jimmy Carter, 99, made a rare public appearance to join his successors Joe Biden and Bill Clinton at the memorial service for his beloved wife.
A frail-looking Carter briefly left hospice care to attend the service at a church in Atlanta on Tuesday local time, arriving in a wheelchair with a blanket on his lap that was embroidered with a picture of his wife’s face.
Carter did not speak, but the couple’s children and grandchildren celebrated the “life well lived” of Rosalynn Carter, a humanitarian and mental health advocate who redefined the role of the modern First Lady.”
My mother was the glue that held our family together,” said their son James “Chip” Carter, who kissed his father on the head and laid his hand on his mother’s flower-covered coffin.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden had a “special moment with President Carter” before the service, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One.
Rosalynn died on November 19, aged 96, after battling dementia.
Fighting back tears, their daughter Amy Lynn Carter read out a love letter her father wrote to her mother while he was in the US navy three quarters of a century ago.
“My mum spent most of her life in love with my dad,” she told the congregation at the Glenn Memorial Church.
Chip Carter hailed his mother for helping him overcome his own drug and alcohol addiction, saying the former first lady made a “positive difference in people’s lives”.
Sitting in the front row of the church were Biden – who had backed Carter before the Democrat’s 1976 election win – and wife Jill.
Alongside them were former president Clinton, who was in office from 1993-2001, and wife Hillary; former first ladies Trump, Michelle Obama and Laura Bush.
The service included Rosalynn’s favourite music, including a performance of the John Lennon song Imagine by husband-and-wife US country music stars Tricia Yearwood and Garth Brooks.
The turnout showed the high regard in which Rosalynn was held in the US.
Celebrated as an active first lady who championed then little-discussed issues of mental health, Rosalynn’s reputation only grew, along with her husband’s, once they left the White House.
Losing his 1980 re-election bid to Republican Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter was widely dismissed as a failure. However, the couple went on to build a global network of charity activities and earned plaudits for their humble lifestyle.
– with AFP
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Originally published as Melania Trump breaks with tradition at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral
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