President Trump’s Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs executive and Suicide Squad producer Steve Mnuchin, has had a tough few weeks of gaining media attention for his actions. Last week, Mnuchin wouldn’t commit to putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. In a striking metaphor, Mnuchin used a government plane to fly with his wife to witness the eclipse from Fort Knox. He also offered a tepid defense of President Trump’s post-Charlottesville comments that didn’t look too good either.
However, Mnuchin’s wife, Louise Linton caused much more of a stir after tagging an Instagram post about that Fort Knox trip with hashtags for various luxury brands like Hermes and Tom Ford. After being called out for using tax-payer-funded air travel, Linton thought that instead of not responding to a negative Instagram comment, it was better to put the stranger on blast for not being as rich as she is. After people began telling Linton that she sounded like Marie Antoinette, she made her social media accounts private. The Treasury Department later issued a statement saying that trip was on the level, Linton issued an apology, and the story was over. Until now.
Now, Linton has again apologized in … a magazine for the D.C. high-society set … accompanied with glossy photos of Linton wearing … designer gowns. Optics! Here’s what she told Washington Life in their latest issue devoted to balls-and-galas season:
“I one hundred percent embrace the comments of my critics and I concede wholeheartedly that the post was boastful and materialistic and my response was extremely thoughtless. I should have known better than to be so insensitive. My post itself and the following response were indefensible. Period. I don’t have any excuses, nor do I feel any self-pity for the backlash I experienced.”
She also called her response, which involved researching her Instagram critic’s life through previous posts, “a knee-jerk reaction.”
Is Linton truly sorry? Has she had time to reflect on what her comment really said? Does she see the irony of apologizing while wearing a ball gown? She says it’s true.
“I see the irony of making an apology in a ball gown!” Linton said. “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. Charity fundraising galas have always been a wonderful way to support a myriad of causes.” She ends the interview by saying that she hopes her actions speak more for her in the future (even though her actions are what got her in trouble in the first place).
(Via Washington Life)