No one is criticizing her for committing a faux pas. We are criticizing her for lying about the faux pas.
So the story says:
Former first lady Michelle Obama relived an awkward Inauguration Day gift exchange during her first television interview since leaving the White House.
“Well, there’s all this protocol,” Obama told Ellen, describing what happened when the new first lady, Melania Trump, unexpectedly handed her a Tiffany’s box at the front steps of the White House on Inauguration Day last year.
The former first lady said the gift was a “lovely frame.”
“I mean, this is like a state visit, so they tell you that you’re going to do this, they’re going to stand here. Never before do you get this gift, so I’m sort of like OK. … What am I supposed to do with this gift?” Obama said.
“No one would come and take the box,” she said, “And I’m thinking, ‘Do we take the picture with (it)?’ “
Which part of this is a lie? In any case, it is making a mountain out of a molehill, and I believe MO’s version of the story. Why would she need to lie about it??? The only thing that makes sense for her to “lie” is her statement that it never happened before. As she said, “It was like a state visit.” So protocol is probably that gifts are not given in that situation. So she was caught off guard. So what?