Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose had a few choice words on Twitter for Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday and the Treasury secretary did not take the insult lying down.
“It’s official!” Rose tweeted, “Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an a–hole.” It’s unclear why Rose targeted Mnuchin specifically but a video of President Donald Trump visiting an Arizona factory (while not wearing a mask) made headlines on Tuesday thanks to the Guns N’ Roses cover of “Live and Let Die” blaring in the background.
Less than two hours later, Mnuchin responded to Rose’s tweet, writing, “What have you done for the country lately?” The original response tweet had the flag of Liberia in it but it was deleted and replaced with a tweet of the American flag a short time later.
Axl Rose previously voiced his frustration with his music being used at Trump events back in 2018.
“Just so ya know… GNR like a lot of artists opposed to the unauthorized use of their music at political events has formally requested r music not b used at Trump rallies or Trump associated events,” he wrote. “Unfortunately the Trump campaign is using loopholes in the various venues’ blanket performance licenses which were not intended for such craven political purposes, without the songwriters’ consent.”
Rose added, “Personally I kinda liked the irony of Trump supporters listening to a bunch of anti Trump music at his rallies but I don’t imagine a lot of ’em really get that or care.”
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