Former first lady Michelle Obama did not appear to attend the Chicago memorial service for civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson on Friday, despite the Obamas’ longstanding ties with the late activist.
The ceremony, which took place in a church on the South Side of the Obamas’ hometown of Chicago, featured numerous dignitaries, including former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton; former Vice President Kamala Harris; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and former first lady Dr. Jill Biden. California Gov. Gavin Newsom was also present.
“President Donald Trump is unable to attend Jackson’s funeral due to scheduling and ongoing events, and has recorded a video message in tribute,” a White House official told The Independent.
The Independent has contacted the office of Barack and Michelle Obama for comment.
In a statement after Jackson’s passing in February at age 84, which followed years of health struggles, the Obamas spoke of their admiration and personal relationship with the leader, who was a protege of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Reverend Jackson also created opportunities for generations of African Americans and inspired countless more, including us,” the statement reads. “Michelle got her first glimpse of political organizing at the Jacksons’ kitchen table when she was a teenager. And in his two historic runs for president, he laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land.”
Though the Obamas occasionally had their differences with Jackson — the activist was caught on a hot mic in 2008 criticizing Barack Obama for the way he addressed the Black community — they have described him as a key influence.
“The message he sent to a 22-year-old child of a single mother with a funny name, an outsider, was that maybe there wasn’t any place or any room where we didn’t belong,” Barack Obama said during Friday’s service. “He paved the road for so many others to follow.”
Later in 2008, when Obama won the presidential election, Jackson was famously seen with tears in his eyes as he watched the candidate make his acceptance speech in Chicago.
The former first lady’s apparent absence from the Jackson funeral is the latest in a string of high-profile ceremonies she has missed, including Trump’s inauguration and former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, both of which took place last year.
These moments, coupled with less frequent public sightings of the Obamas together, fueled speculation they may be getting a divorce, though the former first lady has dismissed such claims.
She has explained that in recent times she has made an intentional decision to be less in the public eye.
“One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I’m supposed to attend,” she told NPR last year. “That was a part of me using my ambition to say, ‘Let me define what I want to do, apart from what I’m supposed to do, what the world expects of me.’ And I have to own that. Those are my choices.”
“The fact that people don’t see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumors of the end of our marriage,” she said elsewhere in the interview. “It’s like, OK, so we don’t Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60. We’re 60, y’all. You just are not gonna know what we’re doing every minute of the day.”
