Obama skip Thatcher funeral: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s funeral on Wednesday.
Obama will send officials who served under President Ronald Reagan—former secretaries of state George Shultz and James Baker—to attend the funeral, reported the Politico website.
Former U.S. ambassador to the U.K., Louis Susman, and Barbara Stephenson, the former State Department Charges D'Affaires, will also go to the funeral.
The funeral for Thatcher, who died earlier this month, is slated for Wednesday.
None of the four surviving U.S. presidents, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, or George W. Bush will attend Thatcher’s funeral, according to The Sun tabloid.
“We are a little surprised by the White House’s reaction as we were expecting a high-profile attendance,” a source with the U.K. government told the Sun.
“This is a week when there is a lot of movement on Capitol Hill on gun issues,” a White House spokesman told the conservative Breitbart.com website, elaborating on why Obama will not attend the funeral.
Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner will also not attend the funeral.
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