YouTuber niece of Illinois mayor criticizes uncle for attending wedding amid Covid-19 surge
The internet celebrity niece of an Illinois mayor criticized her uncle on Sunday for attending a family wedding in Florida.
Kristin Chirico, former BuzzFeed personality and co-host of YouTube’s “The Kitchen & Jorn Show,” said Naperville mayor Steve Chirico was “not sorry” for his actions, which were a “tremendous insult” to the community.
“He should be held accountable,” Chirico tweeted on Sunday, addressing organizers in Naperville. “Demand updates. You belong in this community, too. Your safety matters. YOU matter. I’m rooting for you.”
Local Naperville organizers: He's not sorry, and that's a tremendous insult to you and your families. He should be held accountable. Demand updates. You belong in this community, too. Your safety matters. YOU matter. I'm rooting for you. https://t.co/xslooXOnSr
— Kristin Chirico (@lolacoaster) November 23, 2020
Chirico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Her statement came after a widely circulated photo on social media showed Steve Chirico standing close together with his family at his daughter’s wedding — none of whom wore masks.
Steve Chirico confirmed to NBC News in an email that he traveled to Florida for his daughter’s outdoor wedding and reception, which had a total of 53 guests.
“My family and I all took COVID tests and tested negative prior to traveling to Florida this weekend for my daughter Jenna’s wedding,” he said in a statement. “Upon my return to Naperville, I will be quarantining and testing again.”
His niece wasn’t the only one to criticize the mayor.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker voiced his concerns at a daily coronavirus briefing on Monday, saying people were not following public health measures to mitigate the spread of the virus, NBC Chicago reported.
“I even saw a story about a mayor here in Illinois who flew to Florida for a wedding, didn’t wear a mask, and the wedding had more than 50 people and that's the kind of thing — that's precisely what we ask people not to do," Pritzker said.
The controversy came as Covid-19 cases were on the rise in all 50 states. The mayor’s trip also followed a warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention telling Americans not to travel for the holidays.
As of Tuesday, DuPage County, where Naperville is located, reported more than 41,000 cases and 748 deaths since the pandemic began in March, according to the Johns Hopkins Covid-19 dashboard.
Chirico tweeted on Saturday that her uncle and his immediate family did not believe “they’ve done anything wrong.”
She added that she was initially hesitant to publicly speak out against her uncle, but “like… people are dying, Kim,” referencing a meme from “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”
