Axl Rose Calls out Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and He Responds

Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has gotten into a Twitter feud with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. While it wasn’t directly addressed, it seems fairly obvious that the whole thing is in reference to President Donald Trump and his recent appearance in Arizona.

“It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an a—hole,” Rose tweeted on Wednesday. While it’s unclear why the singer targeted Mnuchin, the tweet itself was clearly a response to the clip of Trump’s visit on Tuesday. In addition to the president not wearing a mask, the clip caused some controversy due to the use of Guns N’ Roses’ cover of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” playing in the background. Mnuchin eventually replied, asking “What have you done for the country lately?”

As several commenters have pointed out, unemployment in the U.S. has skyrocketed to roughly 20 percent of the workforce. Which led to quite a bit of speculation as to why a federal official was tweeting at the singer of “November Rain.” Interestingly, this also isn’t the first time that Rose has called out members of the Trump administration over the misuse of Guns N’ Roses tunes. As The Wrap pointed out, Rose addressed that very problem on Twitter 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 [our] music not [be] used at Trump rallies or Trump associated events,” he tweeted at the time. “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. 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.”

Trump also addressed his decision to not wear a mask at the facility, which just happens to produce medical-grade face masks. “I’m going to have to look at the climate. I’d have no problem wearing a mask. I don’t know,” the president told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m supposed to make a speech. I just don’t know: Should I speak in a mask? You’re going to have to tell me if that’s politically correct. I don’t know. If it is, I’ll speak in a mask.”