The wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has spoken out for the first time since she was lambasted for her behavior on Instagram last month.
“I see the irony of making an apology in a ball gown. But it would be dishonest to proclaim that I’m never going to go to another social function,” Linton told Washington Life magazine, a glossy publication that chronicles the social lives of wealthy inhabitants of the nation’s capital, in an interview published Tuesday.
The story is accompanied by several full-page fashion photos of Linton, posing in expensive ball gowns in various locations at her and Mnuchin’s Washington mansion.
“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 said.
Linton returned from a day trip to Kentucky, accompanying her husband, when she stepped off a government plane clad head-to-toe in designer goods.
She posted a picture on Instagram, tagging the specific design houses responsible for her luxurious items. One of her accessories alone, an Hermès “Birkin” bag, retails for more than $10,000.
Shortly thereafter, Linton deleted the tags to the designers, and ultimately made her Instagram account private, but not before she responded to a commenter who had criticized Linton’s trip and its cost.
Linton’s reply to Jennifer Miller, an Oregon mother of three, was a brash screed, questioning Miller’s financial status, calling her, “adorably out of touch.”
Reaction against Linton, an actress who married multimillionaire Mnuchin in a lavish Washington ceremony this summer, was swift and brutal. She was called out for having a “let them eat cake” attitude, and chastised for wealth-shaming.
“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,” Linton said in the Washington Life interview, which took place just days after the incident.
The day after Linton’s Instagram snafu, she publicly apologized, releasing a statement via her personal publicist. The Treasury Department confirmed Mnuchin had reimbursed the government for his wife’s travel to Kentucky.
Defending her thought process with the Instagram post, Linton claims the moment was uncharacteristic of her true personality.
“I should have stuck to posting pictures of rescue dogs and daily life,” she said.