Michelle Obama and Jill Biden were booed at NASCAR's season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday.
The appearance was part of an initiative to honor military troops and families. The first lady and vice president's wife also served as grand marshals for the race, along with Sergeant Andrew Berry, a wounded warrior who survived two bullets and eight bomb blasts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
At the beginning of the race, an announcer introduced the two women, who were met with a loud combination of both cheers and scattered boos. Earlier, Obama and Biden received a standing ovation at a pre-race drivers meeting.
Michelle Obama's communications director Kristina Schake issued the following statement:
"Mrs. Obama was proud to join NASCAR in recognizing our nation’s veterans and military families to raise awareness of this important issue for all Americans. As she has always said, she will proudly stand with anyone making a major commitment to serve and honor our military community and yesterday, NASCAR did just that. They paid special tribute to our veterans and military families at the championship race by donating over 5,000 tickets to military families and by honoring Sergeant Berry and his family, true American heroes. Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden enjoyed their visit to the speedway and are looking forward to working across the country to honor America’s veterans and military families."
Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR's vice president of public affairs, said:
"The NASCAR community and the vast majority of those attending our race Sunday welcomed the First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden and the military families in attendance. We are proud to support military families across the country and proud to support the Joining Forces initiative."
WATCH VIDEO ABOVE (h/t Mediate)