Yesterday, the bodies of the two US troops, Sgt William Howard and Sgt Edgar Torres Tovar of the Iowa National Guard, and one civilian, Ayad Mansoor Sakat from Michigan, killed in Syria on Saturday arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The White House posted on YouTube a video titled “President Trump and the First Lady Participate in a Dignified Transfer Ceremony” of the transfer of the bodies off a military transport plane. Melania Trump is nowhere to be seen. The title of video was later changed to “President Trump Participates in a Dignified Transfer Ceremony.” What happened?
The night before at 10:30 PM Eastern, the White House sent out the schedule for the next day which stated that Melania would attend the event, “THE PRESIDENT and FIRST LADY participate in a Dignified Transfer Ceremony.” An hour before the event, the White House Press pooler The Washington Times’ Jeff Mordock wrote this:
On background from a White House official
First lady Melania Trump will not be attending today’s transfer ceremony.
So somebody who didn’t want to attach their name to the comment said she wouldn’t be attending, but no explanation was given as to why. So far no explanation has been given. She doesn’t appear to have some serious issue, as the schedule for today says she will be attending a Christmas reception at the White House.
By skipping the reception of the bodies, she also skipped meeting with the families of the deceased.
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