Treasury secretary’s wife slams critics
She defended Instagram post touting high-end designers
WASHINGTON— It was a glam shot that got ugly.
The wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dived headlong into a social-media skirmish this week, blasting a critic of her Instagram post highlighting her high fashion choices.
Calling the commenter “adorably out of touch,” Louise Linton suggested she and Mnuchin contributed more to the U.S. economy and paid more in taxes than did her critic.
After a day of mounting criticism, the Scottish actress issued an apology Tuesday. But she had already assumed a starring role in the continuing story of the Trump administration’s enormous wealth. The drama began Monday when Linton posted a photo of herself getting off a government plane in Kentucky with Mnuchin. In her post, Linton mentioned several designer labels for her white ensemble, including Tom Ford and Valentino.
Commenter Jenni Miller responded from Oregon: “Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable.”
Linton shot back, defending herself and Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive and hedge fund investor.
“Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you’d be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours,” Linton wrote. She went on to call Miller’s response “passive aggressive” and “nasty” before ending her retort with a suggestion that Miller “go chill out and watch the new game of thrones.”
Miller told CNN she found Linton’s original post “incredibly offensive,” saying Linton went to a state with high poverty and “chose to brag about her outlandishly expensive clothes. It’s more than tone-deaf, it’s deplorable.”