The internet has noticed that Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has never tweeted. (Whether he has actually scrubbed his account clean is difficult to verify. But we've checked it periodically, including back in November, and there was nada then.) This wouldn't be as remarkable if he hadn't just been tapped to lead the White House Office of American Innovation, which The Washington Post has characterized as "a SWAT team to fix government with business ideas."
His verified account, @jaredkushner, has 37,700 followers, but not a single tweet since he joined Twitter in 2009. What looks like a business account — but is not confirmed to be Jared Kushner — is also devoid of posts.
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Mashable couldn't help pointing out that Kushner's non-activity stands in "remarkable contrast" to his father-in-law Donald Trump's prolific tweeting. Trump has tweeted almost 35,000 times from his @realdonaldtrump account, and 375 times from the official presidential account @POTUS since January. Ivanka Trump has her husband beat by far, too, with about 13,200 tweets so far.
Jared Kushner's brother Josh Kushner has 26,500 followers and tweets sporadically, though he posted what some interpreted as a response to the election back in November — "seek respect only from those that you respect" — and has retweeted a statement by former President Barack Obama on gun violence. (He also attended the Women's March in January, though he said he was only there to observe.)
The 36-year-old doesn't seem to have any other social media profiles, either — no Facebook, no LinkedIn, not even an Instagram, though someone did make him a fan Instagram.
New York Times columnist Frank Bruni put Kushner's social media absence in a broader context in February, questioning his true values. "Right now Trump has too many mum collaborators too content to hope for the best. I put Kushner in that pack," he wrote.
Of course, Twitter noticed Kushner's social-media silence after his appointment to the position of innovation head — the internet always does. We wonder if he'll start tweeting in his new position?
This guy will head up a White House Office of Innovation pic.twitter.com/v48nsb5uBP
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) March 27, 2017
@LanceUlanoff joined in 2009 and hasn't tweeted? wow that's innovation LOL
— Jonni Martinez (@JonniMartinez87) March 27, 2017
@LanceUlanoff @dohertyjf ehhh tweeting isn't a requisite for being innovative. I don't know his merits, but I don't care about tweets
— Scott Magdalein (@ScottMagdalein) March 27, 2017