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No matter who is in the White House, certain traditions have been carried out over the decades — Republican to Democrat, Democrat to Republican. However, when Donald Trump was in the Oval Office a few things came to a screeching halt and former First Lady Michelle Obamapointed it out in an interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.
Michelle was on the late-night talk show to promote her new book, The Light We Carry, when the topic of her and former President Barack Obama‘s official White House portraits came up. Normally, the next person in office invites you to come back and unveil the artwork. Well, that didn’t happen when Donald and Melania Trump were in charge — and Michelle came to spill some tea.
“It was really a beautiful experience,” Michelle told Fallon. “It’s a tradition. You do your official portraits; the next president is supposed to invite you back to hang them. We were never invited back, so these pictures have been done for a long, long time.” She then joked, “It’s good to see everybody.” The couple came back to do the unveiling under Joe Biden’s administration last September with Robert McCurdy’s painting of Barack Obama and Sharon Sprung’s portrait of Michelle.
The former First Lady has been open about her feelings in the transition from her husband’s administration and handing it over to Donald Trump. She called the January 2017 Inauguration Day “so emotional for so many different reasons” on The Light Podcast recently. “When those doors shut, I cried for 30 minutes straight, uncontrollable sobbing, because that’s how much we were holding it together for eight years,” Michelle added. It’s understandable how difficult it must have been to leave a major chapter of their lives behind, but now, the Obamas’ portraits are a part of history.
Before you go, click here to see presidential families over the years.
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