Here’s What Happened When Steve Mnuchin’s Wife Mocked a Woman for Having Less Money

#HermesScarf reached new levels of tone-deaf with this belittling rant.

Kevin Dietsch/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, was forced to make her social-media presence private after sparking outrage with an Instagram post that flamboyantly bragged about a slew of designer labels she was wearing while disembarking an official Air Force jet.

The caption on the now-deleted photo read: “Great #daytrip to #Kentucky! #nicest #people #beautiful #countryside #rolandmouret pants #tomford sunnies, #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino #usa” 

As if that wasn’t enough, Linton managed to make matters worse for herself by mocking one of her critics for having less money than she does. 

“Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable” Jenni Miller, a mother of three living in Portland, had commented on the photo.

https://twitter.com/margarita/status/899806489686179840

Linton swiftly lashed out at Miller with the following rant on the post, which has since gone viral:

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 sacrifices toward our day “trip” than you did.

Linton’s harsh response immediately reminded the internet of the actress’s self-published memoir last year that detailed her time living in Zambia during her gap year in the 1990s. That book, titled In Congo’s Shadow, was roundly ridiculed for what many described as screaming white privilege and general bad writing. 

Even “alt-right” conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich joined the outrage today to call Linton “basic.”

https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/899828247743025152

Linton and Mnuchin were married in Washington, DC, this past June. Vice President Mike Pence officiated the extravagant ceremony.

GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

payment methods

GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate