‘I was the one who was truly out of touch’: Mnuchin’s wife Louise Linton apologizes for controversial Instagram post

Louise Linton lands in an
Air Force jet in Kentucky with her husband, Treasury Secretary
Steve Mnuchin, last month.
Screenshot
via Twitter

Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin,
apologized for her
widely condemned Instagram post last month in which she
mocked an Oregon woman’s lifestyle and boasted about her
wealth. 

A photo Linton posted to Instagram, which showed
her disembarking from an Air Force jet with her
husband during a day trip to Kentucky, received some
critical comments. In response to one commenter who
wrote “Glad we could pay for your little getaway.
#deplorable,” Linton unleashed a long rebuke. 

“Aw!!! Did you think this was a personal trip?! Adorable!”
Linton wrote. “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?”

Linton, who married Mnuchin in a June 2017 ceremony attended by
the president and officiated by the vice president, went on to
call the woman “adorably out of touch” and her children and
life “cute.”  

In
an interview and photo spread with Washington Life published
on Tuesday, Linton, posing in ball gowns, apologized for the
comment and the photo, calling her response “indefensible”
and not reflective of her values. 

“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 for the
backlash I experienced. I sincerely take ownership of my
mistake,” Linton said. “It’s clear that I was the one who was
truly out of touch and my response was reactionary and
condescending. I wish I hadn’t spoken in such a patronizing tone.
It was an out of character, knee-jerk reaction, and I felt so
awful about it that I removed it.”

Linton added that her husband’s government work did not, in fact,
qualify as a sacrifice. 

“I don’t feel like a victim. I feel like the world gave me a
good, hard wake-up call and I’m OK with that,” Linton said. “I
had no place to talk about sacrifice when there are millions of
men and women making real sacrifices for this country every day.
My husband is very fortunate to be part of the government. It is
a great honor and privilege and in no way is his work, or my part
in this, any kind of sacrifice.”

The appropriateness of the day-long trip, during which
Mnuchin, Linton, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
visited a gold stash at Fort Knox and viewed the solar
eclipse in one of the country’s prime viewing spots, is
being investigated by the Treasury Department’s inspector
general,
The Washington Post reported last week. 

Linton called the episode a “life-changing event” that has
helped her refocus on her interest in animal welfare. 

“Since this happened I’ve been researching social issues in my
community and reading the heartbreaking stories of peoples’
experiences with homelessness and abuse,” she said. “This has
truly opened my eyes and humbled me.”