Michelle Obama Finally Shares Why She Missed President Trump’s Inauguration

Michelle Obama’s absence from President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration on January 20 became quite a topic of conversation. People wondered why the former First Lady didn’t accompany her husband, former President Barack Obama. Michelle also missed former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral a few weeks before. Her notable absences got the rumor mill churning with everything from her perceived disdain for Trump to potential marital issues. Michelle decided to set the record straight on the April 23 episode of IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. According to her, there are no juicy details. She just decided to stay back.

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Michelle Obama explained that not everything is salacious and opted out of Trump’s inauguration for personal reasons.

“People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason, they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart,” she said.

Michelle added, “It took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me, that was a hard thing for me to do.”

Michelle explained that she opted not to find a dress, which made her decision to stay back a bit easier.

“It started with not having anything to wear,” she explained. She said she is always prepared with the right thing to wear, but this time it wasn’t so easy.

“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,” she said.

Michelle Obama went on to explain that opting out of attending Trump’s inauguration is part of the “art of saying no.”

“It’s a muscle that you have to build,” she said. “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.”

This story’s featured image is by Andy Wenstrand/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images.