Awkward ghosting and a death stare: The curious dynamics at Jimmy Carter’s funeral

A rare moment of unity in a divided America. A gathering of historical figures. Or a strangely familiar moment between political foes.
When former president Barack Obama sat down next to former and now President-elect Donald Trump at the funeral for president Jimmy Carter, they appeared at ease, chatty even.
This is a high-profile event to mark the passing of a former president who came to define service and peace-making.
Obama and Trump’s seeming friendliness obscured the negative things they’ve said about each other only months ago, as rancour and disunity plays out in America’s politics. Some spouses, including Michelle Obama, didn’t attend. Others were less guarded about their feelings in public.
As more of the elite ex-presidents club gathered, signs of division – just below the surface of pleasantries – became evident.
Here are some of the revealing gestures and interactions among the past presidents, their vice presidents, and spouses.
Mike Pence and Donald Trump
US President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with his former vice president Mike Pence. Trump supporters wanted to hang Pence on January 6, 2021, while Trump bitterly criticised him for certifying US President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
Karen Pence ghosts Trump, Melania
Former second lady Karen Pence apparently refuses to shake Trump or former first lady Melania Trumps’ hands. Trump supporters chanted “hang Mike Pence” on January 6, 2021, after – in keeping with the US Constitution –Pence certified Biden’s electoral win.
Al Gore and Barack Obama
Al Gore, vice president from 1992 to 2000, lost the campaign to become president to George W Bush in 2001. Bush narrowly lost the popular vote to Democrat Gore but defeated Gore in the electoral college, with the help of the Republican-dominated Supreme Court, which ruled to stop a crucial recount in Florida.
Obama and Trump chat and laugh
Seen chatting amicably side by side here, former president Barack Obama famously mocked Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner – a humiliation some say goaded Trump to run for president. Trump then claimed Obama wasn’t born in the US, so he was ineligible to be president. Trump pushed these conspiracy theories about Obama and Democrats right up until 2016 when Trump, to Obama’s dismay, won the presidency the first time. As recently as August, Obama compared Trump to “the neighbour who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day” and said he had a “weird obsession with crowd sizes”. Former first lady Michelle Obama did not attend the funeral.
Bush’s belly tap of Barack
George W Bush belly-taps Obama who succeeded him as president in 2008 after a campaign in which he criticised Bush’s “catastrophic failure of leadership”.
Enter the Clintons
Enter the Clintons. Former president Bill Clinton, whose personal affairs in the White House were endless fodder for Republican media. His wife, the former first lady Hillary Clinton, was defeated by Trump after a bruising campaign in 2016. Her minor misuse of a personal email account became a main attack line by Trump when he famously said: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” The same year, Hillary Clinton said Trump was “temperamentally unfit to hold an office” and that his ideas “aren’t just different, they are dangerously incoherent”. She added: “They’re not even really ideas, just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds and outright lies.”
Karen goes long for the handshake
Karen Pence extends an open hand, raises her eyebrows and reaches across the length of two seats to shake Hillary Clinton’s hand.