Karen Pence, the wife of former Vice President Mike Pence, stirred controversy on Thursday when she declined to shake hands with Melania Trump during the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter.
The incident occurred as the Trumps arrived at the Washington National Cathedral, making their first significant public appearance since Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election.
Melania Trump appeared to respond with poise, offering a polite smile despite the apparent snub.
WATCH:
When you go to a wedding, and you run into someone you don’t like, you politely say hello, and move on. Because you’re an adult.
Karen Pence blanked the President-elect and his wife… in a church… at a funeral… as a Christian….
Pathetic.pic.twitter.com/3j5TKEXGQ0
— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) January 9, 2025
Social media users wasted no time weighing in on the snub, with one tweeting, “People with no class, make classless moves,” while another wrote, “I would expect nothing less from a Pence.” Said another, “She’s the worst.”
“They did not even acknowledge Melania neither did bushes wife.. those frickng people are jealous morons. The mean girls ex first lady club,” another user said.
Still another user wrote: “If Trump can shake Pence’s hand, she just looks like a petulant child. Bad look on her…Trump only looked like a leader.”
“Karen Pence wants nothing to do with Donald or Melania Trump,” added one observer. “There was no need for this whatsoever.”
The rift between the president-elect and his former vice president has been a prominent political narrative since the 2020 election. Once considered a strong and complementary partnership, their relationship began to deteriorate over disagreements regarding the election’s aftermath and the events of January 6, 2021.
There were other uncomfortable moments at the 39th president’s funeral.
CNN’s Jake Tapper noted the tense greeting between President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and their spouses, saying it was not “particularly warm.”
The Bidens met Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff as cameras inside the National Cathedral caught the moment. There didn’t seem to be much eye contact or handshakes between the four of them.
“There’s President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. And I think he has 11 days left as president of the United States. Obviously, an eventful year, one that he did not plan for,” Tapper noted.
”Started the year as a would-be Democratic presidential nominee, and we all know what happened after that. Again, you didn’t see a particularly warm greeting between the first couple and the second couple. But again, we are at a funeral, so one has to take that into account when trying to read the body language of the individuals there,” he added.
WATCH:
Jill Biden and Kamala Harris DO NOT acknowledge each other at Jimmy Carter funeral as they sit together
— Martin Walsh (@martinwalsh__) January 9, 2025
Meanwhile — and ironically — former President Barack Obama and Trump were seen having a very friendly conversation on Thursday morning at the U.S. Capitol as the two of them were seated behind Harris and Emhoff.
For her part, Harris is not planning to “go quietly into the night” after she was thumped in the 2024 presidential election.
During a segment on CNN, reporter Isaac Dovere revealed that Harris privately tells backers she is considering running for governor of California in 2026 or president in 2028. Harris also reportedly does not want her “final act” to be certifying Trump’s election victory over her.
“We haven’t seen or heard much from Vice President Kamala Harris since she lost the election last month,” CNN’s Manu Raju told CNN’s viewers. “But the Democratic Party still reeling from Trump’s victory.”
Dovere said that Harris is mulling two options.
“What she’s been saying to people over the last couple of weeks, donors, other supporters that she’s been talking with, As you haven’t seen the last of me, I’m not going quietly into the night,” he said during the December interview.
“Advisers, people close to her are debating about what that means. They do not want her final official act ever to be essentially certifying Donald Trump’s win over her, especially four years after January 6th,” he continued.
“And so they look at this governor’s race in California in 2026, and it seems to them like a layup essentially, that she would probably clear the field or mostly clear the field and she would get to be governor of California,” Dovere said.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
