The world watched on Wednesday as Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. as Congress attempted to certify Joe Biden’s Election Day victory, a process that was interrupted for several hours by the insurrection and later drawn out as many Republicans attempted to throw out the results from several swing states. Among those decrying those who incited violence was model Karlie Kloss, whose tweets once again highlighted her unique connection to the Trump administration.
Kloss is married to Josh Kushner, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, aka Ivanka Trump’s husband and Trump’s son-in-law whose inept response to a multitude of sensitive issues over Trump’s presidency—more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic—has drawn massive scrutiny. Kloss and Kushner both consider themselves liberal, which often puts them at odds with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Both Kloss and Kushner have publicly said they didn’t vote for Trump in 2016; in September, Kloss campaigned for Biden. (Kloss and Kushner have not cut off contact with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump during Trump’s presidency.)
As Congress returned to the Capitol to certify the electoral college votes, Kloss decried the violence to her more than 5 million Twitter followers, calling anyone who refused to accept the 2020 presidential election and incited violence “anti-American.”
Many of Kloss’ followers pointed out her connection to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner to highlight that she needs to call out her own family. One user, whose account has since gone private, more or less summed up the mood by responding to Kloss, “Tell your sister in law and brother in law.”
Kloss’ reply was brief but blunt: “I’ve tried.”
She didn’t elaborate on what she meant by “tried,” but Twitter met Kloss’ assertion that she tried to speak to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner with mixed reactions. On one hand, many mocked her attempt and told her to try harder. But some of her followers felt it was unfair to go after Kloss for her in-laws’ actions, asking what Kloss could feasibly do.
Kloss’ response to the election comes hours after Ivanka Trump tweeted—and then deleted—a half-hearted attempt to get the insurrectionists to disperse, calling them “American Patriots” in the process.
“American Patriots — any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable,” she tweeted. “The violence must stop immediately. Please be peaceful.”
Ivanka Trump later clarified that she meant that “Peaceful protest is patriotic.”
