The Illinois mayor’s internet celebrity niece was criticized on Sunday for attending her uncle’s family wedding in Florida.
Kristin Chiriko, a former BuzzFeed personality and co-host of YouTube’s “The Kitchen and Jorn Show,” said Naperville Mayor Steve Chiriko “don’t apologize” for his actions, which was a “tremendous insult” to the community.
“He should be held accountable,” Chiriko tweeted while addressing organizers in Naperville on Sunday. “Demand updates. You are also in this community. Your safety matters. You mind I do the original for you. “
Chiriko did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
His statement came after a photo widely shared on social media showed Steve Chiriko standing close to his family at his daughter’s wedding – none of whom wore masks.
Steve Chiriko confirmed to NBC News via an email that he had gone to Florida for his daughter’s outdoor wedding and reception, with a total of 53 guests.
“My family and I all took Covid tests and tested negative before traveling to Florida this weekend for my daughter Jenna’s wedding,” he said in a statement. “After returning to Naperville, I’ll separate and test again.”
It was not his niece who criticized the mayor.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker voiced his concerns at a daily coronavirus briefing on Monday, saying people were not following public health measures to reduce the spread of the virus, NBC Chicago reported.
“I also saw a story here in Illinois about a mayor who went to Florida for a wedding, didn’t wear a mask, and there were more than 0 people at the wedding and that’s the kind of thing – that’s what we don’t ask people to do,” Pritzker said. .
The controversy erupted as Covid-19 cases were on the rise in all 50 states. The mayor’s visit followed warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to tell Americans not to travel for the holidays.
As of Tuesday, Dupage County, where Naperville is located, had reported more than 1,000,000 cases and 8,748 deaths since the outbreak began in March, according to the Johns Hopkins Covid-19 dashboard.
Chiriko tweeted on Saturday that his uncle and his close family did not believe “they did anything wrong.”
She added that she was initially reluctant to speak out against her uncle in public, but conveyed the message “People are dying, Kim”, “moving forward with the Kardashians”.
