Barbra Streisand took to social media to comment on the different coverage of family members of presidents, going viral in the process.
On Tuesday, the singer and actor, 82, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “The press was obsessed with Hunter Biden. But barely a word about how Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump made 82 million dollars while working in the White House.”
The post gained 2.4 million views and 86,000 likes as well as 20,000 retweets and 10,000 comments.
The press was obsessed with Hunter Biden. But barely a word about how Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump made 82 million dollars while working in the White House.
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) September 2, 2024
Streisand’s tweet received a mixed response.
Many critics referenced a controversial expose published by The New York Post three weeks before 2020 election, which alleged that evidence of corruption by then-presidential candidate Joe Biden was found on a laptop belonging to his son Hunter.
The press was skeptical of the story, and some social media platforms blocked links to it due to concerns about the spread of misinformation. However, some of the documents on the laptop were later authenticated and introduced as evidence in a federal case against Hunter relating to the illegal purchase of a firearm, which he was convicted of, leading some to argue the story was unfairly criticized. The claims made against the president have not been proven.
Hunter is currently awaiting trial on unrelated charges: three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses. Prosecutors accuse him of failing to pay $1.4 million in federal taxes from 2016 to 2019 in a case that’s been widely covered by the media.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 18. Barbra Streisand recently posted a Tweet on X commenting on their incomes earned while working in the White House.
Paul Sancya/Associated Press
Many X users sided with Streisand, praising her for raising the point about Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s earnings while in the White House, suggesting it’s not well-known enough.
Financial disclosures released in 2018 indicated that the pair made at least $82 million in outside income while working in the White House.
An investigation into Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s finances during their time in the White House was conducted in February 2021 by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and found that they made anywhere from $172 million up to $640 million while in the White House, Newsweek previously reported.
Ivanka served as a senior advisor to her father, Donald Trump, while also working as the director of the Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship.
Her husband Kushner worked as a senior advisor to his father-in-law and as the director of the Office of American Innovation.
Although Trump and Kushner declined to receive salaries from their work at the White House, the income was earned through their businesses outside of politics, such as Trump International Hotel shares, Kushner Companies real estate holdings, Trump’s shoe brand, shares in the company Cadre, and more.
Newsweek reached out to Streisand, Biden’s lawyer, Trump, and Kushner for comment via email.
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