First lady Jill Biden will soon be heading to Tokyo to attend the Olympics. Her office announced on Tuesday that she will be leading the U.S. delegation without her husband, President Joe Biden, who will not be attending.
When fans were barred from the Olympics last week after Japan declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19, it wasn’t known if foreign dignitaries like the first lady would be able to attend the Opening Ceremonies. That appears to have been resolved, though, since the first lady’s press secretary, Michael LaRosa, tweeted that she will be attending the Opening Ceremonies on July 23.
This is the second time the first lady will attend the Olympics in an official capacity. She and her husband, then vice president under Barack Obama, led the U.S. delegation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
It’s been 13 years since a sitting president has attended an Olympics. The last time it happened was at the 2008 Beijing Games, when George W. Bush became the first president to attend an Olympics abroad. His successor, Barack Obama, didn’t attend the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, or the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Donald Trump was president for just one Olympics, the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, but did not attend. He sent his daughter, Ivanka Trump, who was also a White House advisor.
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