A day after Guns N’ Roses’ “Live and Let Die” blared as Donald Trump toured an Arizona factory, Axl Rose turned to Twitter to castigate the administration’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
“It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole,” Rose tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
It’s unclear what prompted Rose to specifically lash out at Mnuchin, but as The Hill notes, the Treasury Secretary did appear on Fox Business earlier this week to discuss when Americans will be able to fly internationally again. He said it was too soon to tell when international flights would resume, but said of domestic travel: “As the economy opens up, I think you’ll see demand coming back.”
“For businesspeople who need to travel, there will be travel on a limited basis,” he said.
“This is a great time for people to explore America,” he added, which could be the source of Rose’s ire. “A lot of people haven’t seen many parts of America. I wish I could get back on the road soon.”
Soon after Rose’s tweet, Mnuchin took a break from his PPP-related duties to respond to Rose, “What have you done for the country lately?” followed by an emoji of the flag of Liberia. After being widely mocked by Twitter users, the tweet was then deleted and replaced with one bearing the same question and an American flag emoji.
Rose, catching the Liberia gaffe, tweeted back, “My bad I didn’t get we’re hoping 2 emulate Liberia’s economic model but on the real unlike this admin I’m not responsible for 70k+ deaths n’ unlike u I don’t hold a fed gov position of responsibility 2 the American people n’ go on TV tellin them 2 travel the US during a pandemic.” Neither side has reignited the Twitter feud at press time.
Rose is a sporadic Twitter user, but when he does tweet, it’s usually to criticize Trump or, more recently, the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Q: If the Sheriffs can choose not to enforce the beach closures can the hospitals ‘choose’ not to admit any possible Covid-19 suspected beach goers? Just askin’…,” Rose wrote in response to people ignoring social distancing measures.
It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole.
— Axl Rose (@axlrose) May 6, 2020
What have you done for the country lately? 🇺🇸
— Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) May 7, 2020
