Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's Wife Mocked An Instagram Commenter For Not Being Rich
Today in controversies that could be easily avoided if people just ignored their online critics: Louise Linton, a Scottish actress and the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, went nuclear on a random Instagram user who posted a snarky comment on Linton's photograph.
On Monday night, Linton posted a photo of herself looking glamorous stepping off a military jet with the hashtag-heavy caption, "Great #daytrip to #Kentucky! #nicest #people #beautiful #countryside #rolandmouret pants #tomford sunnies, #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino #usa." (Yes, she was identifying the labels of the clothes and accessories she had on, as well as the country the picture was taken in.) Mnuchin was in Kentucky with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to promote Trump's planned overhaul of the tax code.
A woman who has been identified by The New York Times as Jenni Miller, a 45-year-old Oregon Democrat, commented, "Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable." Linton responded with an epic, sarcastic, tone-deaf rant that cited her and Mnuchin's joint sacrifices to the country, even though they've been married for less than two months:
cute!😘 Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable! Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?! Lololol. Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice to your country? 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.😍 Thanks for the passive aggressive nasty comment. I know you're mad but deep down you'er really nice and so am I. Sending me passive aggressive Instagram comments isn't going to make life feel better. Maybe a nice message, one filled with wisdom and hunanity [sic] would get more traction. Have a pleasant evening. Go chill out and watch the new game of thrones. It's fab!
Shortly afterwards, Linton set her Instagram account to private, but not before screenshots of the exchange ricocheted around the web.
What lessons can we learn from this? First, if someone criticizes you on social media, you don't have to respond. Second, if you're going to criticize someone else for being "out of touch," maybe first make sure that you're not wearing an outfit that costs more than many people's annual salary.