10 couples in politics with big age gaps, from US president Joe Biden and his wife Jill, and Donald and Melania Trump, to French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte

Apr 26 , 2022

Find out more about these 10 couples in politics with big age gaps, including former US first lady Melania Trump and former president husband Donald Trump; French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte; and France’s Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Nicolas Sarkozy. Photos: @melaniatrump/Twitter, Reuters, AFP

US Senator Mitch McConnell is 11 years older than his former transportation secretary wife Elaine Chao, while Brazil’s Michel Temer is 42 years older than his wife Marcela

US Senator Mark Kelly is only six years older than his former senator wife Gabrielle Giffords, while France’s Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is 13 years younger than hubby Nicolas

Hollywood is no stranger to big age gaps among couples, but the same goes in politics. You might be most familiar with the 25-year age gap between Donald Trump and his wife Melania, but what about 81-year-old former Brazilian president Michel Temer’s 42-year difference from his wife, Marcela Temer?

Here are 10 sets of couples in politics with big age differences.

1. US Senator Mark Kelly and former senator Gabrielle Giffords

Former US Representative Gabrielle Giffords delivers her opening remarks while seated next to her husband, former US Navy Captain Mark Kelly, during a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary committee about guns and violence on Capitol Hill in Washington, in 2013. Photo: Reuters

Senator Mark Kelly is six years older than his wife, former senator and gun safety advocate Gabrielle Giffords.

Kelly and Giffords met in China as part of a young leaders forum organised by the National Committee on US-China Relations and married in 2007.

Giffords was a rising star in the House of Representatives when she was shot in the head in 2011 while meeting with constituents outside a grocery store. She survived the shooting and has become a powerful advocate for safer gun laws.

Kelly is a retired Nasa astronaut who has commanded several missions to the International Space Station, and he began his first term as a US senator for Arizona in 2021. He has remained a steady, loving presence as Giffords has slowly regained her abilities to read, speak and walk.

2. US Senator Bernie Sanders and Jane O’Meara Sanders

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders with his wife Jane during a campaign event in San Antonio, in February 2020. Photo: AP

Senator Bernie Sanders is eight years older than his wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders.

Bernie met Jane at his first mayoral debate in 1981 while she was working as a community organiser. They dated for eight years before breaking up when Jane wanted to get married and Bernie didn’t. He came around a year later and proposed over ice cream sundaes at Friendly’s, and the couple wed in 1988.

3. US Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas and Virginia Thomas

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sits with his wife and conservative activist Virginia Thomas while he waits to speak at the Heritage Foundation in October 21, 2021, in Washington DC. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas is eight years older than his wife, Virginia Thomas.