Nancy YangProtip: It’s usually not a good idea to brag on social media about how wealthy you are and then mock someone for not being as rich as you.
Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, found that out the hard way after being criticized for an Instagram post in which she hashtagged basically every high-end designer for her outfit.
On Monday, Linton posted a photo of the couple getting off a government plane in Kentucky. According to the New York Times, she had joined her husband on a trip to Kentucky with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Louise Linton, wife of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, just turned her Instagram private after posting this (h/t @skenigsberg) pic.twitter.com/beakVnAhhu
— Margarita Noriega (@margarita) August 22, 2017
“Great #daytrip to #Kentucky! #nicest #people #beautiful #countryside #rolandmouret pants #tomford sunnies, #hermesscarf #valentinorockstudheels #valentino #usa,” she wrote under the photo.
Jenni Miller, a mother of three from Oregon, responded: “Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable.”
Clearly, it struck a nerve because rather than ignoring the comment, Linton posted a lengthy response, in which she seemingly mocked Miller (“Your life looks cute”) and called her “adorably out of touch.”
According to the Times, Linton changed her Instagram account to private soon after the photo was posted.
In an interview with the Times, Miller, a registered Democrat, said she couldn’t understand why Linton highlighted all her designer labels on a trip to Kentucky, which has one of the highest poverty rates in the country.
“If she hadn’t made her account private, I would have written back with a very snide Marie Antoinette joke,” Miller said.
A Treasury Department official told the Times that the Mnuchins reimbursed the government for the trip, and that Linton was not paid by any of the designer labels she namechecked.
Update, Aug. 23: Linton has since apologized.
