On Wednesday, January 6, armed white insurgents stormed Capitol Hill in an unprecedented attack on the American government.
Though the attempted coup failed, the subject of the heartbreaking attack by white nationalist Trump supporters has been on everyone's lips ... well, almost everyone.
Audrey Roloff has adamently refused to directly mention the insurrection to Little People, Big World fans.
And her sister-in-law is calling her out.
Last week, Audrey told her fans that she refused to be "pressured" into commenting about the attack in DC.
“While I think there are so many important issues that we, as influencers, can speak out on and move the needle on…" she began.
Audrey then stated that "just because someone isn’t sharing about something, doesn’t mean that they’re not for it or they’re not against."
“I just think we need to be slower to speak," Audrey added vaguely.
"And," she commented, "I think what’s happening in D.C. right now is terrible."
That line was almost aggressively ambiguous, a detail that many fans picked up on.
“But me not having the perfect words to speak to something going on right now," Audrey continued.
"And," she wrote, "throwing something up on my Instagram Story just because I’m pressured into it in my DMs to share about every little issue that’s a current event."
Auj opined: "I just think… [those people DMing] should check your heart and realize we’re humans, too, and need space to process things, too."
“And don’t condemn people for sharing things they always share about," Audrey continued.
Notably, she had continued to promote her new book in the wake of the white nationalist coup attempt in what fans found to be a hurtful business-as-usual approach.
Audrey concluded by insisting that it's not a "bad thing" that she continues to share things that fall within her "lane and space."
Clearly, Isabel Rock -- wife of Jacob Roloff -- sees things very differently.
Izzy has of course been using her own platform to speak out about the attack, using poetry to cope while also directly addressing the issues at hand.
She also appears to have fired a shot at Isabel by way of her Instagram Stories.
“If it’s not ‘on brand’ for you to talk about things like white terrorism," Isabel shared in a post, "your brand is bulls--t.”
She might not specifically have named Isabel, but many interpreted this as being a deliberate and specific dig at her sister-in-law.
That's the trick with general statements like that -- it's easy to read as personal, even if you're not thinking of anyone in your life.
Now, Audrey is partially right -- not commenting doesn't mean that you don't personally care.
Many people do lack the language and confidence in what they can say to address all or part of national tragedies and other major events.
This is something that even politicians may struggle with. it's part of why they have social media managers and speech writers.
But the solution here isn't to remain silent and keep blogging about your book after just a few years of marriage.
Instead, the best solution is to share things that others have said. Retweet, reblog, and share to your own Stories.
If you're not doing that ... people are going to be uncomfortable and wonder why it is that this particular subject is so hard for you to address.
In Audrey's case, well, fans already know that her political leanings tend to be both fairly extreme and on the conservative side.
Just last year, Jeremy attempted to demonize both the Democratic Party and the historic civil rights protests in a scathing reference to "rioters and looters."
Audrey herself has referred to living among a "twisted generation," appearing to take a swipe at fellow Millennials whom she may believe are insufficiently Christian.
This has led Audrey and Jeremy into numerous conflicts with Jacob and Isabel, who are considerably more mainstream in their views.
Jacob is outspoken and sometimes takes a hostile tone with family members after his explanations fail to sway them to use their platforms more responsibly.
Isabel often plays the peacemaker. But who will play peacemaker for her and Audrey after this conflict?
