The Bachelorette couple Becca Kufrin and Garrett Yrigoyen spent the Fourth of July apart, and fans definitely noticed the separation.
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Garrett took to Instagram and posted photos with his young nephew.
"Happy 4th of July. Teaching the little guy what our flag stands for," Garrett captioned two photos, which featured Garrett decked out in a USA hat and a T-shirt with an eagle on the back as he and his nephew posed in front of the American flag.
"The stripes represent the original 13 Colonies," Garrett continued.
"The stars represent the 50 states of the Union. (red) symbolizes hardiness and valor, (white) symbolizes purity and innocence, and (blue) represents vigilance, perseverance and justice."
Although Becca missed the party, she commented on Garrett's post, "I just wanna eat those cheeks."
Becca's comment resulted in fans asking for a status update on her relationship with Garrett, but no confirmation was provided.
Becca admitted just last month her future with Garrett is uncertain given they have dramatically differing views on political and social issues.
Garrett, who proposed marriage to Becca on The Bachelorette's fourteenth season in 2018, posted a thin blue line showing solidarity with police forces on his Instagram account on June 4, sparking criticism that he is not supportive of the nationwide protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd and the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
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Becca made it known on the June 9 episode of her Bachelor Happy Hour podcast she co-hosts with The Bachelorette Season 13 star Rachel Lindsay that she does not "align" or "agree with" Garrett's social-media post -- and their differences are apparently having a negative impact on their relationship.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWOn the Tuesday, June 16 episode of Becca and Rachel's podcast, Becca said, "I want to say to our listeners out there -- because I'm sure many will hear this back and wonder and ask and have opinions -- for those who are curious about my relationship with Garrett at this point, all I can say right now is I don't know."
"I can't give anything more than that. It's something that we are trying to work through and discuss and do work on at home at this time and that's where the work will remain and that's really the best I can give you at this point."
But Becca apologized to Rachel, saying "things need to change within [The Bachelor] franchise and within myself as well," according to Us.
On June 2, Garrett seemed to join show support for the protests and "Black Lives Matter" movement when he posted a black square on Instagram, however he also posted hands of all different races.
Garrett, an apparent staunch conservative, then dropped his post about supporting law enforcement just two days later.
Garrett explained of his blue-line image on Instagram, "With so many friends and family in law enforcement I couldn't sit back and not support them and the hundreds of thousands of men and women of all races that represent this Thin Blue Line as well."
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He added, "The Thin Blue Line represents each officer protecting protestors, properties, and businesses while being threatened, attacked, shot, shot at, hit with vehicles, and other forms of brutality... They continue to put in overtime away from their families, stay silent while being threatened, hated, and assaulted."
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Garrett finally asked his followers to be there for the people "protecting us, no matter what" and added the following hashtags to his post, "#thinblueline #antiracism #antibrutality."
Becca first discussed Garrett's stance on this movement during the June 9 podcast of Bachelor Happy Hour.
"Garrett is my fiance and I love him and to his core, I believe that he is a good person," Becca reportedly said.
"I don't think he meant it in a malicious way...I do think it was tone deaf, and it was the wrong time and message and sentiment."
When Becca promoted this June 9 podcast episode on her Instagram account, Garrett voiced praise and support for his fiancee, who admitted she struggled to express herself during her "uncomfortable" and "hard" conversation with Rachel, who clearly disagreed with what Garrett chose to publicly post.
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"Love you Becca, it's unrealistic to sit down and have individual conversations with millions. It's OK to not get everything out you want to, everything you are doing and saying is OK, because it's how you feel. Don't let people take away how you truly feel," Garrett commented on Becca's post.
"Continuing moving in a positive direction, growing, and being an awesome human. Those who know you, know you're wonderful. If we can't all accept each other and figure out a way to give love instead of hate, converge instead of divide, build instead of destruct, we will all be a much stronger unit!"
This month's incident is not the first time Garrett's social-media postings have negatively impacted his relationship with Becca.
Garrett came under fire in 2018 as Becca's The Bachelorette season was airing on ABC for his taste in sexist, homophobic and politically-extreme Instagram memes involving undocumented immigrants and Parkland shooting survivors.
In late May 2018, Garrett issued a public apology, saying he never knew "the power" behind "a mindless double tap on Instagram," referring to how he had liked offensive and insensitive content.
Becca -- who wasn't aware of Garrett's social-media behavior while her The Bachelorette season was filming -- also tried to defend Garrett when news his behavior surfaced while the season was airing.
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"I can't fault on anyone for what they believe and who's to say that anyone is truly what they believe in if they just double tap," Becca continued.
"I can't speak to that because that's just not me. I am a strong woman and I do believe in certain things, but again, that's what's so great about our country -- everyone is entitled to their own opinions."
Up until Garrett's latest scandal, his relationship with Becca seemed to be going quite well. In fact, Becca just denied split rumors in late May after Garrett noticeably spent a weekend away from her fishing.
In December 2019, Becca revealed she was ready to tie the knot with Garrett but hadn't been pushing to set a wedding date so that Garrett wouldn't feel rushed or uneasy about becoming a husband again.
"He was previously married and divorced, so I never want him to feel rushed or pressured into anything," Becca told ET at the time.
"I'm fine with where we're at. I'm kind of just waiting for him to be like, 'Okay, let's do this now.'"
Becca is originally from Minnesota while Garrett is from rural California, however the couple put down roots in San Diego, CA, after getting engaged, and then they got a dog together.
Becca starred on The Bachelorette after having her heart broken by Arie Luyendyk Jr. on The Bachelor's 22nd season, which wrapped in early 2018.
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Not long after his The Bachelor engagement to Becca, Arie felt he had made a mistake and was actually in love with his runner-up, Lauren Burnham, instead.
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Lauren ultimately took Arie back in early 2018, and then the couple got engaged on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose's live broadcast in March 2018.
Since then, Arie and Lauren got married in Hawaii and welcomed a baby girl, Alessi, in May 2019.
Becca admitted to ET her biggest regret from participating in The Bachelor franchise was accepting Arie's marriage proposal to begin with.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
