President-elect Donald Trump did not garner a universally warm welcome at the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter.
All five living presidents and former presidents attended the funeral, but the list of people who gave the Carter critic the cold shoulder and those with open arms did not follow party lines.
Former Vice President Mike Pence greeted the president-elect in one of the pair’s only public interactions since Trump’s supporters called for Pence’s death during the Jan. 6 attacks, briefly shaking his hand. But other Republican mourners were less friendly.
Pence’s wife, Karen, declined to acknowledge Donald or Melania Trump at the service. She stayed seated as they greeted the row. She had previously said that Trump “puts himself above the Constitution” and was unfit for office. That was before a court filing revealed that Trump responded, “So what?” to reports of a mob threatening former Vice President Pence’s life during the storming of the Capitol.
Former President George Bush also coasted past President-elect Trump without a greeting, instead giving President Barack Obama a belly tap. Bush declined to throw his support behind the ostensible leader of the Republican Party during the presidential election, offering no endorsement for any candidate.
President Joe Biden delivered a eulogy for Carter, highlighting the former president’s character in the address while subtly condemning abuses of presidential power.
“We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to what my dad used to say is the greatest sin of all, the abuse of power,” Biden said in a seeming nod at President-elect Trump.
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Biden previously told reporters that the president-elect could learn “decency” from Carter.
Attending the ceremony without former First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Obama acted chummy while sitting with Trump and was caught on camera laughing with the president-elect.
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