White House defends Michelle Obama's uncovered hair in Saudi visit

"The attire the First Lady wore on this trip was consistent with what first ladies in the past have worn," says White House press secretary.

By MICHELLE MALKA GROSSMAN
White House defends Michelle Obama's uncovered hair in Saudi visit
The White House defended Michelle Obama's visit to ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia without wearing a headscarf, saying it was not unusual.
"The attire the First Lady wore on this trip was consistent with what first ladies in the past have worn," said White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz at a daily press briefing. He cited examples of similar attire worn by former First Lady Laura Bush, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on visits to the Kingdom.
President Barack Obama and the first lady were in a diplomatic visit to India when they made the unscheduled stop in Saudi Arabia following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.
One of the reporters at the press conference quoted a recent tweet by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, which read "Kudos to FLOTUS for standing up for women and refusing to wear a Sharia-mandated head scarf in Saudi Arabia; nicely done."
"Was that her intention to send that message?" the reporter asked Schultz.
The press secretary would not respond to the senator's tweet, but simply said that Obama enjoyed her trip overall.
"She felt like she was warmly welcomed by the king there. They had a very good discussion that included catching up on their families, and also a new school that the king had built to help 60,000 women get educated," he said.
Women in Saudi Arabia are required to wear a headscarf in public, but foreigners are exempt from this rule.


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