Watch: Donald Trump And Michelle Obama’s Awkward Handshake At Bush Funeral
During Wednesday’s state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush, who died on Nov. 30, there was quite the awkward interaction between Michelle Obama and President Trump.
The Obamas and the Clintons were already sitting in the front pew at the Washington National Cathedral when the Trumps arrived. Once the President and first lady Melania Trump made their way over to sit where the others were already seated, they stopped to shake a few hands; not all of them, just some.
While standing up, Melania shook hands with the partially-smiling former President Barack Obama, Michelle and 42nd President Bill Clinton. She gave a wave of sorts to Hillary Clinton, who responded with a nod of the head, before sitting down.
President Trump sat down first before turning to shake the 44th U.S. president’s hand, with Michelle looking on, waiting to see if he would make the effort to shake hers, as well. After a beat, she leaned forward slightly and decided to make the first move and extended her hand to him. The President took it and gave a firm shake, before the two awkwardly released hands.
The Clintons did not receive a handshake from him, and Bill’s face was one of awkward disbelief as the President sat back in his chair, clasped his hands in his lap and looked down. Hillary never even looked over at him. The camera panned out a little to show the whole group sitting uncomfortably with each other, no one looking at anyone else.
The interaction between Michelle and President Trump comes after the former first lady wrote about him in her new memoir, “Becoming.”
“But it was also dangerous, deliberately meant to stir up the wingnuts and kooks,” she wrote, according to ABC News. “I feared the reaction… What if someone with an unstable mind loaded a gun and drove to Washington? What if that person went looking for our girls? Donald Trump, with his loud and reckless innuendos, was putting my family’s safety at risk. And for this, I’d never forgive him.”
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