‘She’s no hypocrite’: Why Michelle Obama skipped Donald Trump’s inauguration

Among the many famous faces in attendance at Donald Trump’s inauguration, the former first lady’s was conspicuously missing.

Among the many famous figures in attendance at Donald Trump’s inauguration, one was conspicuously missing: Michelle Obama.

Her husband, former President (and Mr Trump’s predecessor the first time he was elected), Barack Obama, flew solo at Tuesday morning’s ceremony.

While the Obamas announced earlier this month that the former First Lady would not bear witness to Mr Trump’s second coming, no reason was given for her absence – prompting speculation in certain corners of the internet that Ms Obama was ill, or that the couple were headed for divorce.

That Ms Obama also skipped the January 9 state funeral for Jimmy Carter, which was attended by all five living presidents and their spouses (bar her), didn’t exactly halt the rumour mill.

Thankfully, evidence in recent days suggests no marital strife, nor that this is a Princess of Wales situation (godwilling). Rather, that Ms Obama stuck true to her word, and simply despises the 45th President of the United States.

Michelle Obama was missing from Donald Trump’s inauguration. Picture: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. Picture: Kevin Lamarque/POOL/AFP

Former President Barack Obama flew solo at the event. Picture: Kenny Holston/The New York Times/AFP

MORE: Melania Trump slams Obama’s White House act

Longtime “allies” of Ms Obama told The Hill last week she was “sending a powerful statement” by skipping the event.

“She meant every word she said on the campaign trail with every fibre of her being,” one said.

“And she’s no hypocrite.”

One of Ms Obama’s former aides said she was “saving some credibility” by not attending.

“She campaigned the hardest against him personally, of anyone.”

Ms Obama famously struggled to conceal her disdain at Mr Trump’s last inauguration in 2017. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

The ‘optics’ might’ve been bad, Ms Obama later said, but she ‘stopped even trying to smile’ as she took in the new administration. Picture: AFP PHOTO/POOL/Saul Loeb

“No one took issue”, they continued, when Mr Trump and Melania Trump snubbed former President Joe Biden’s inaugural ceremonies in 2021.

“So why is this a big deal?” they said. “The chain has already been broken.”

Another source told PEOPLE there was “no overstating her feelings about (Trump)”.

“She’s not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocol’s sake,” they said.

“Michelle doesn’t do anything because it’s expected or it’s protocol or it’s tradition.”

‘To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display, there was no diversity, there was no colour on that stage.’ Picture: Rob Carr/Getty Images

Ms Obama famously struggled to conceal her disdain at his last inauguration, when, as Trevor Noah put it on The Daily Show at the time, “throughout the day, Mrs Obama’s face was the barometer for most of America’s feelings”.

The “optics” might have been bad, she later explained her facial expressions in her 2018 memoir, Becoming, but she “stopped even trying to smile” as she took in the new administration.

“To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display, there was no diversity, there was no colour on that stage,” she recalled in a 2023 episode of her Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast, adding that she was “uncontrollably sobbing” by the day’s end.

“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.”

Ms Obama’s feelings have only become more explicit in the past 12 months: look no further than her withering take-downs of the President in the lead-up to last year’s election at the Democratic National Convention and at Kamala Harris’s October 26 rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

In the former, Ms Obama noted Mr Trump’s lengthy history of “doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies”, and accused him of doing “everything in his power to make people fear” her and her husband because he felt “threatened” by “two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black”.

Ms Obama delivered a searing speech at a campaign rally for Kamala Harris in Kalamazoo, Michigan on October 26. Picture: Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP

She went even harder at the latter event, describing Mr Trump as a “predator”, convicted felon, and a “known slumlord”.

“I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little frustrated that some of us are choosing to ignore Donald Trump’s gross incompetence while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn,” Ms Obama said.

“I hope that you will forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behaviour, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable of sexual abuse, all of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do.”

Originally published as ‘She’s no hypocrite’: Why Michelle Obama skipped Donald Trump’s inauguration