‘Wakeup call’
Mnuchin wife: I had it coming in royal screwup
THE WIFE of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says her Marie Antoinette moment was no piece of cake — but she’s truly sorry.
“It was scary and surreal, but it forced me to take a deep look at what I had done. I don’t feel like a victim. I feel like the world gave me a good, hard wakeup call and I’m OK with that,” Louise Linton told Washington Life magazine.
In her first interview since she poor-shamed an Oregon mom on social media and faced intense backlash, Linton conceded she was wrong to post an Instagram photo flaunting her wildly expensive designer wardrobe and wrong to call Jennifer Miller of Lake Oswego “adorably out of touch.”
“I concede completely to the comments of my critics. My post itself and the following response were indefensible. Period. I don’t have any excuses, nor do I feel any self-pity,” she said. “It’s clear that I was the one who was truly out of touch, and my response was reactionary and condescending.”
Linton, 36, had already lined up her interview with Washington Life before she traveled to Kentucky with her husband on Aug. 21 for his trip to meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Scottish-born actress’ scandal started when she posted a photo of herself leaving the government chartered jet and tagged the European designers she was wearing, including Hermès and Valentino.
“Glad we could pay for your little getaway,” Miller, 44, said in a reply that ended with #deplorable.
Linton unloaded on the middleclass mother of three.
“Have you given more to the economy than me or my husband?” she asked. “I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day ‘trip’ than you did. Pretty sure the amount we sacrifice per year is a lot more than you’d be willing to sacrifice if the choice was yours. You’re adorably out of touch.”
“I couldn’t believe she went off the rails with such a long comment to my silly message,” Miller told the Daily News that week. “It was incredibly condescending.”
Linton eventually deleted her outburst and issued a short apology through a publicist. She also tried to cancel her Washington Life cover story but then agreed to meet the controversy head-on. Asked what she would say to Miller directly, Linton said she would apologize and “perhaps find something that we could work on together in the spirit of unity and love,” she said.
Reached Monday evening, Miller said, “I would be very happy to work with her on any number of things that we might find that we care about and have in common.”
Linton also addressed the optics of the photo shoot that went along with her cover story.
“I see the irony of making an apology in a ball gown! But it would be dishonest to proclaim that I’m never going to go to another social function. That’s also part of my life,” she said.