 "Former President Barack Obama talks with President-elect Donald Trump, next to Melania Trump, as they arrive to attend the state funeral for former president Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, on Thursday. AP")
Former US Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will not be attending the traditional inaugural brunch of President-elect Donald Trump. According to NBC News, Obama received an invitation to the luncheon but declined to attend the event. Meanwhile, sources also confirmed Clinton was invited as well but he does not plan to attend.
Bush’s team on the other hand maintained that it is not tracking any invitation to the luncheon. Another source told NBC News that former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton also received an invitation to the inaugural luncheon but will not be attending the event.
While they are not attending the inaugural luncheon, all three former presidents, however, will attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, which will take place earlier in the day. The former first ladies will be attending the swearing-in-ceremony except Michelle Obama.
Obamas’ office gave no reason for the First Lady’s absence. It is pertinent to note that Michelle Obama did not attend former US President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, making hers the only absence among all living current and former presidents and first ladies.
Former presidents shun Trump
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the absences. It is pertinent to note that Inauguration Day is one of the only occasions when all former living presidents come together to witness the swearing-in ceremony of the new American leader.
However, in 2021, Trump declined to attend Biden’s inauguration ceremony since the Republican leader remained adamant that he won the 2020 US Presidential Elections. During the 2024 presidential race, none of the living former presidents supported Trump’s candidacy.
Bush, who is a Republican himself, did not make an endorsement, and Obama and Clinton actively campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris. In 2017, the Clintons attended the luncheon after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. During the brunch, the business mogul encouraged a standing ovation for her.
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More Shorts“I was very honoured, very, very honoured when I heard that President Bill Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton was coming today,” Trump said at the time. The tradition of inaugural brunch stems from a lunch the Senate Committee on Arrangements hosted in 1897.
According to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC), the event was hosted by then-President William McKinley and guests at the Capitol. In 1953, the JCCIC began hosting the luncheon for the incoming president and vice president and their guests. Key politicians who attend the event usually deliver speeches and toast the new administration.
With inputs from agencies.