Michelle Obama Skips Jesse Jackson's Funeral Despite Facing Backlash for Missing Major Events With Husband Barack

Michelle Obama was once again a no-show at another important public event.

The former first lady was missing from Rev. Jesse Jackson's funeral service in Chicago, Ill., on Friday, March 6, despite facing widespread backlash last year for skipping major appearances alongside her husband, Barack.

While Michelle wasn't in attendance at the House of Hope for Jesse's memorial service, Barack attended with fellow living Democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden — whose respective wives, Hillary Clinton and Jill Biden, were also present to pay their respects.

The three liberal leaders were acknowledged by a speaker as they entered the service, which was held less than one month after the reverend's death at age 84 on February 17.

"Put your hands together for the three presidents: President Bill Clinton, President Joe Biden, and the Southside's own, President Barack Obama," the emcee expressed.

While Michelle wasn't by his side, Barack still delivered a confident eulogy at Jesse's service — and wasn't afraid to subtly shade Donald Trump in the process.

During his speech, Barack was met with loud cheers for the former U.S. commander-in-chief to run for "four more years" in office, despite already serving two terms as POTUS.

In response, Barack quipped, "Nah, see I believe in the Constitution," an apparent snub of President Trump — who has speculated about running for a third term despite being ineligible to do so upon completion of his second term in office.

This isn't the first time Barack has flew solo to an important event.

In January 2025, Michelle was scrutinized for skipping the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter.

Later that same month, she was criticized for opting out of attending President Trump's second second inauguration.

The former first lady responded to backlash during an episode of her "IMO" podcast, admitting: "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."

Revealing she was practicing the "art of saying no," Michelle noted, "It's a muscle that you have to build."

"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," she continued at the time.

She added, "I want our daughters, I want the young women out there… I want my girls to start practicing different strategies for saying no."

"After all that I've done in this world, if I am still showing them that I have to keep- I still have to show people that I love my country, that I'm doing the right thing, that I am always setting, going high all the time, even in the face of a lot of hypocrisy and contradiction, all I'm doing is keeping that crazy bar that our mothers and grandmothers set for us," Michelle expressed.