Kim Kardashian raises eyebrows with Ivanka Trump birthday post days before election

Kim Kardashian wished a happy birthday to her friend Ivanka Trump just days before the 2024 US presidential election.

The Skims founder, 44, took to Instagram on Wednesday (October 30) to post a tribute to the eldest daughter of former president Donald Trump. “No one sweeter than you @ivankatrump,” Kardashian wrote over a selfie of the pair.

“Happy Birthday,” she added, along with three white heart emojis.

The Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum then shared a photo of herself and Ivanka posing for cameras, both wearing black and metallic floor-length gowns. The former White House advisor also appeared to be laughing with Kardashian as she leaned toward the reality TV star and smiled in another Instagram Story post.

With less than one week until Election Day, which takes place this year on November 5, it didn’t take long for social media users to suggest Kardashian’s birthday shout-out f Ivanka was “a deliberate choice.”

“Kim K posting this a week before the biggest election in history is a deliberate choice and I’m not saying I expected anything more from her or her family but wow!!” one user wrote on X/Twitter.

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“Posting this right before one of the biggest US elections in history is certainly a… choice,” another person pointed out.

A third user claimed: “Six days before the election it’s intentional.”

However, some fans rushed to Kardashian’s defense by noting that she and Ivanka have been friends for decades. The pair were first photographed together at the 2014 Met Gala, where Kardashian was escorted by then-fiancé Kanye West and Ivanka attended with husband Jared Kushner.

As Kardashian set out to become a lawyer and advocate for criminal justice reform, she famously landed a meeting with then-president Trump in 2018 to discuss the case of Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for a non-violent drug offense. One week after Kardashian’s visit, Trump granted Johnson clemency.

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She visited the White House again in 2020 after Trump agreed to cut short the sentences of three female prisoners who were jailed for drug-related and white collar crimes.

“Why are y’all surprised lol. They’ve known each other for decades,” one fan wrote in response to Kardashian’s birthday post for Ivanka, while someone else said: “Y’all do know they are friends.”

During an interview on Netflix’s My Next Guest With David Letterman in 2020, the billionaire businesswoman addressed criticism surrounding her controversial decision to work with Trump on prison reform.

“I understand that and there are frustrations. Trust me, everyone called me and said, ‘Don’t you dare step foot in that White House or your reputation is done.’ And I said, ‘I have to step foot in there or these people don’t have a chance.’”

Despite her previous work with Trump, Kardashian has remained tight-lipped about her political leanings. Following the results of the 2020 presidential election, the mother of four shared her support for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris by posting a photo of the Democratic candidates on X/Twitter, along with three blue heart emojis.

She was also joined by Vice President Harris in April this year during a roundtable event with four people pardoned by President Biden. While sitting in the White House’s Cabinet Room, Kardashian thanked Harris for her “deep commitment to second chances.”

“I’m so honored to be here to continue this fight and to learn more every day, every visit, every administration, I’m just here to help and to spread the word,” Kardashian said, as Harris called  the reality star turned criminal justice reform crusader “a wonderful advocate.”

As for Ivanka, who played a central role in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and first-term administration, she has remained noticeably absent from her father’s reelection campaign trail.