2020.05.07 - Twitter/The Washington Post - Axl Rose, Steven Mnuchin and the pandemic Twitter feud no one saw coming (& related articles)

https://twitter.com/axlrose/status/1258265406050951169

Axl Rose, Steven Mnuchin and the pandemic Twitter feud no one saw coming

By Allyson Chiu

By all accounts, 2020 has been, to put it mildly, a weird year.

This week alone has already seen a 5-year-old boy from Utah attempt a solo drive to California on a mission to buy a Lamborghini, a llama named Winter emerge as a potential key player in the race for a treatment targeting the novel coronavirus, and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and Canadian singer Grimes naming their newborn baby X Æ A-12.

But just when it seemed like things couldn’t possibly get any weirder, Wednesday night rolled around with a Twitter feud no one could have anticipated: Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose vs. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Rose threw down the gauntlet shortly before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when he hopped on his seldom-used Twitter account and declared to his 1.2 million followers, without context, “Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an a--hole.”

“It’s official!” tweeted the rock star, who is a prominent critic of President Trump.

Then, in a move that prompted collective surprise, Mnuchin hit back.

“What have you done for the country lately?” he tweeted, tacking what appeared to be an emoji of the United States flag to the end of his response.

Upon closer examination, however, eagle-eyed social media users noticed that Mnuchin had actually used an icon of the flag of Liberia, which is nearly identical to the American flag except instead of 50 stars it has only one. The original tweet was deleted and replaced with one using the correct flag, but not before numerous images had been taken.



The flag mix-up didn’t escape Rose’s attention either.

“My bad I didn’t get we’re hoping 2 emulate Liberia’s economic model,” Rose tweeted sarcastically, before revealing what prompted him to go after Mnuchin in the first place.

“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,” he wrote.

Rose appeared to be referencing Mnuchin’s interview Monday with Fox Business Network. When asked by host Maria Bartiromo whether he thought international travel might resume this year, Mnuchin said it is “too hard to tell” and suggested that Americans should consider traveling more domestically.

“This is a great time for people to explore America,” Mnuchin said. “A lot of people haven’t seen many parts of America. I wish I could get back on the road soon.”

Representatives for Rose and Mnuchin did not respond to requests for comment late Wednesday.

It didn’t take long for Wednesday’s bizarre exchange to spark a social media frenzy. By early Thursday, the Mad Libs-like combination of “Axl Rose,” “Steve Mnuchin” and “Liberia” was still trending on Twitter.

Some commentators attempted to make sense of the bizarre exchange, which notably came one day after the Guns N’ Roses version of “Live and Let Die” blared over the loudspeakers at a mask-making facility in Phoenix while Trump was there for a visit.

“Why is the Secretary of the Treasury fighting on Twitter with Axl Rose?” one person asked. “2020 is becoming more weird by the minute.”

Others rushed to criticize Mnuchin not only for mixing up the flags but also for taking the time to engage in the seemingly trivial war of words with Rose amid the pandemic.

“Pretty hilarious to call out Axl Rose’s American patriotism and then ADD THE WRONG FLAG,” music writer Corbin Reiff tweeted.

Several people also defended Rose, arguing that the musician, as one critic put it, “has done way more for this country” than Mnuchin.

“There is a 100% chance America would be better off with Axl Rose as Secretary of the Treasury, Slash as Secretary of State and Duff McKagan as Secretary of Commerce instead of Steve Mnuchin, Mike Pompeo and Wilbur Ross,” tweeted Brandon Friedman, who served as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/07/axl-rose-mnuchin-coronavirus/

Fernando on Reddit:



Fernando: I believe Axl explained why he was pissed on his response. No?

https://www.reddit.com/r/GunsNRoses/comments/gfehd0/not_the_hero_we_need_but_the_hero_we_deserve/

The Guardian, same date:

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Trump's treasury secretary attacks Axl Rose's patriotism but mixes up US and Liberian flags

The Guns N’ Roses frontman exchanged words with Steve Mnuchin on Twitter about the Trump administration’s coronavirus response

By Poppy Noor

It has been said that people in glass houses should not throw stones. But that didn’t stop Steve Mnuchin, the US treasury secretary, from shooting straight at Axl Rose yesterday.

The Guns N’ Roses frontman (real name William Bruce Rose Jr) has recently aired his frustrations on Twitter about the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus. But this time, Rose engaged in a simple bit of name-calling.

To be fair to Mnuchin, the name-calling seemed pretty uncalled for. It’s been at least three days since Mnuchin did something stupid (like encourage US citizens to start traveling domestically during a pandemic); and at least a decade since he practically caused the financial crash.

Mnuchin responded by asking Rose: “What have you done for this country lately?” Which would have been ironic enough on its own – seeing as Mnuchin is one of the people at the helm of an administration that has seen almost a quarter of the global deaths come from the US during this pandemic.

But to make matters worse, Mnuchin accidentally ended his tweet with a Liberian flag emoji instead of the American flag.

Mnuchin quickly amended his tweet to show the American flag, but not fast enough to duck another Rose attack. “My bad, I didn’t get [that] we’re hoping 2 emulate Liberia’s economic model,” said Rose. Liberia has one of the lowest GDP ranks in the world.

Now, the Trump administration has been having a hard time recently – just yesterday, Trump walked around a mask-manufacturing plant without a mask on, while Guns N’ Roses’ cover of Wings’ Live and Let Die blared out in the background.

And the US and Liberian flags are easy to mistake – the only difference between the two is that the Liberian flag has one star in the box on its left corner, instead of 50. So you almost feel sorry for the guy. Then again, it is also the millionaire Mnuchin who thought Americans could live on $120 a week, because of, uh, bridge liquidity.

It was also reportedly Mnuchin’s idea to delay stimulus checks to millions of Americans because he wanted to get Trump’s signature sprawled on all them before they were sent out. So maybe mixing up flags isn’t the worst thing he’s done.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/07/axl-rose-steve-mnuchin-twitter-spat-us-liberia-flags-mix-up

Rolling Stone, same date:

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Axl Rose Sparks Twitter Feud With Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

"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," singer tells Treasury Secretary

By Daniel Kreps

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.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/axl-rose-steven-mnuchin-twitter-asshole-995403/

Blabbermouth, same date:

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Fires Back At Axl Rose: 'What Have You Done For The Country Lately?'

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has fired back at Axl Rose after the Guns N' Roses singer called him "an asshole."

On Wednesday (May 6),Rose took to his Twitter to write: "It's official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he's officially an asshole," A couple of hours later, Mnuchin responded, writing, "What have you done for the country lately?", initially ending his reply with the Liberian flag emoji instead of the American one. Mnuchin quickly realized his mistake and deleted his original tweet before re-sending it with an American flag emoji.

Reacting to Mnuchin's faux pas, Axl 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."

It's unclear what prompted Axl's initial outburst, but Mnuchin made headlines earlier this week after he faced a lawsuit over the Trump administration's decision to exclude some children from federal stimulus checks because one or both of their parents are immigrants. The lawsuit claims that by excluding these children a stimulus payment is "discriminatory" and unconstitutional. The payments are designed to help families weather the economic impact of the coronavirus, which has left about 1 in 6 U.S. workers without a job.

https://blabbermouth.net/news/u-s-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-fires-back-at-axl-rose-what-have-you-done-for-the-country-lately

CNN, same date:

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Axl Rose and Mnuchin engage in not-so-civil pandemic Twitter war

By Chandelis Duster

Washington CNN  — Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose didn’t hold back on his view of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, setting off a Twitter spat during the middle of a global pandemic.

“It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an [a**hole,]” Rose tweeted Wednesday night.

Less than two hours later, Mnuchin hit back at Rose, with a now-deleted tweet “What have you done for the country lately?” that some pointed out included an emoji of the flag of Liberia. Mnuchin tweeted the snarky response again and included an emoji of the American flag.

Rose took a jab at Mnuchin’s flag mixup and responded, “unlike this admin I’m not responsible for 70k+ deaths.”

“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,” he tweeted, apparently referencing Mnuchin’s comments during an interview with Fox Business Network on Monday.

Mnuchin said during the interview it was “too hard to tell at this point” when asked if he thought international travel would resume this year, but added “this is a great time for people to explore America.”

CNN reached out to Mnuchin’s office for comment on the tweets, but has not received a response.

The Twitter spat comes as the country reels from the economic fallout over the coronavirus pandemic. Among ongoing discussions in Congress about the next coronavirus relief package, questions loom over the Paycheck Protection Program aimed at giving small businesses economic relief and transparency about who is given the loans and millions of Americans are also still waiting on coronavirus stimulus checks – both efforts Mnuchin has been involved in.

It is unclear what made Rose go after Mnuchin, but the singer is no stranger to openly criticizing President Donald Trump and his administration.

During a concert in 2016, the band allowed fans onto the stage to destroy a piñata of then-President-elect Trump. In November 2018, Rose slammed the Trump campaign for playing the band’s music at rallies, tweeting that the band had requested the campaign stop and asserting the campaign is using loopholes to play their music.

Later that month, he criticized the President for seeking to blame the California wildfires on forest management, calling Trump a “demented n’ truly pathetic individual.”

The band’s iconic cover of the song “Live and Let Die” played in the background while Trump, not wearing a mask, toured a Honeywell mask-making factory in Arizona on Tuesday.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/07/politics/axl-rose-steve-mnuchin/index.html

Politico, same date:

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Welcome to the Twitter jungle: Mnuchin feuds with Guns N’ Roses frontman

The unlikely social media spat unfolded against the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic and international economic crisis.

By Quint Forgey

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin waded into a bizarre Twitter dispute Wednesday with Axl Rose after the Cabinet official felt compelled to respond to an unprovoked online attack by the Guns N’ Roses frontman.

The unlikely social media feud, which unfolded against the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic and international economic crisis, began when the musician targeted the secretary in a tweet just before 6:30 p.m. EDT. “It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole,” Rose wrote.

Mnuchin fired back about an hour later, asking Rose, “What have you done for the country lately?” But the secretary’s message included a text emoji of the Liberian flag, which Mnuchin apparently mistook for the American flag. He later deleted that tweet and replaced it with an identical post swapping the national banner of the West African country with that of the United States.

Early Thursday morning, Rose offered a final retort mocking Mnuchin for his flag-related faux pas. “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,” Rose tweeted, keeping with the signature punctuation preferences of his band.

Mnuchin, who has served as President Donald Trump’s Treasury chief since the outset of the administration, has emerged as perhaps the White House’s top negotiator on Capitol Hill amid the coronavirus outbreak — helping facilitate talks with leading Democratic lawmakers that produced a nearly $2 trillion emergency relief package in March and another roughly $500 billion aid measure last month.

Although his digital spat with Rose, an occasional activist, was wholly unexpected, Mnuchin did have a history of rubbing elbows with entertainment industry figures prior to foraying into the federal government. The former investment banker and Goldman Sachs alumnus had a successful career as a movie mogul, backing major films including 2016’s “Suicide Squad.”

Mncuhin and Rose’s exchange — which a Treasury Department spokesperson and the band’s management team did not immediately respond to a request for comment about — fortuitously came a day after the president visited a Honeywell factory in Phoenix manufacturing N95 face masks for health care workers. During that trip, Trump did not wear a mask, and Guns N’ Roses’ 1991 cover of the song “Live and Let Die” blared inside the facility.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/07/twitter-steven-mnuchin-242153

Variety, same date:

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Axl Rose Takes On Steven Mnuchin on Twitter — and the Treasury Secretary Punches Back

By Chris Willman

UPDATED: Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose is only an occasional tweeter, so the odds that Secretary of the Treasurer Steven Mnuchin would have been someone the rocker would have chosen to take on as “officially an a–hole” would have seemed extremely slim before Wednesday night.

Even more improbable, until it happened Wednesday: Mnuchin accepting Rose’s invitation to “get in the ring,” as it were.

Addressing his 1.2 million Twitter followers, Rose wrote on Wednesday: “It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an a–hole.” (Sans our dashes.)

Mnuchin, not about to let this stand without a retort, answered back: “What have you done for the country lately?” He added an American flag as a kicker to his tweet.

One problem: that was apparently Mnuchin’s second version of his response, after he deleted the first. According to screen shots posted by White House correspondent Philip Crowther and other eagle-eyed Twitter followers, the treasury secretary’s first tweet included an emblem for the flag of Liberia, not the United States. (Although they look similar in miniature, the Liberian flag has one star where the American has, of course, 50.)

Late Wednesday night, Rose responded to Mnuchin, tweeting: “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.”

The dust-up between the musician and the Trump administration figure ended there, for now, although there was a lot of wit to go around in subsequent responses among observers of this new Twitter feud.

“This is more a beef with Pompeo, but Axl did finally bring forth Chinese Democracy.” — @smk73

“I’ll tell you what Axl hasn’t done for the country, he didn’t greenlight suicide squad like mnuchin did.” — @rowast (See Mnuchin’s filmography as a movie producer here.)

“Hey isn’t Liberia the flag most cruise ships fly under to avoid taxes and regulation?” — @TavernWench

“Well, just yesterday his version of Live and Let Die embarrassed the s— out of your useless boss, you traitorous human ball gag.” — @taradublinrocks (Guns N’ Roses’ version of “Live and Let Die” played over a PA system, to the shock of many, as the president toured a mask factory in Arizona on Tuesday.)

“Remember when Madeline Albright tried to stab Duff?” — @dickius

“Hey important unrelated side question what the f— do you guys have against using vowels in your name like normal people” — @KT_So_It_Goes

Rose has taken on the Trump administration in his intermittent tweets before, and sometimes in more verbose fashion, as he did on Nov. 10, 2018, when he responded to a presidential tweet blaming forest mismanagement for the devastating California wildfires by writing back: “Um…actually…it’s a lack of federal funding that’s at the ‘root’ of the purported forest mismanagement. Only a demented n’ truly pathetic individual would twist that around n’ use a tragedy to once again misrepresent facts for attempted public/political gain at other’s expense.” (Yes, Rose does use the n’ that appears in his group’s name, consistently, in everyday political prose.)

Around that same time, when Rose was being asked why the president was using GNR music at a rally, the singer answered, “As far as I’m concerned anyone can enjoy GNR 4 whatever reason n’ there’s truth 2 the saying ‘u can’t choose your fans’ n’ we’re good w/that… Having said that my personal position is that the Trump administration along w/the majority of Republicans in Congress n’ their donors that support him 4 their own agendas r doing r nation a disservice… We have an individual in the WH that will say n’ do anything w/no regard for truth, ethics, morals or empathy of any kind, who says what’s real is fake n’ what’s fake is real… Who will stop at nothing 4 power feeding off the anger n’ resentment he sows 24/7 while constantly whining how whatever doesn’t go his way is unfair… Most of us in America have never experienced anything this obscene at this level in r lifetimes n’ if we as a country don’t wake up n’ put an end 2 this nonsense now it’s something we definitely will all pay hard 4 as time goes on.”

So, one thing Rose definitely hasn’t “done for the country lately”: shut up and sing.

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/axl-rose-steven-mnuchin-twitter-feud-guns-roses-treasury-secretary-1234600323/

Vulture, May 6, 2020:

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Steve Mnuchin Tried to Come for Axl Rose on Twitter, Mixed Up the U.S. and Liberian Flag

By Chris Murphy

Suicide Squad producer Steve Mnuchin has, frankly, had enough of your complaints about the economy and being unemployed and needing more than one stimulus check to survive, and he’s decided to take that out on [checks notes] Axl Rose? On Wednesday night, Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose exercised his First Amendment right on Twitter, criticizing United States Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin for … well, basically being Steve Mnuchin. “It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole,” wrote Rose. The tweet must have popped up on Mnuchin’s timeline while he was scrolling away, probably liking tweets about prematurely reopening the country or traveling during a global pandemic or something. This prompted Mnuchin to respond directly to Rose, unleashing the inner reply guy within him. “What have you done for your country?” wrote Mnuchin, initially.

While that might seem like a real sick burn, the first time Mnuchin replied, he included an emoji of the Liberian flag instead of the U.S. flag, which, while definitely reminiscent of our stars and stripes, is ultimately not the same. Mnuchin realized his error pretty quickly, deleted the tweet, and reposted with the correct flag, but, thankfully, the gaffe was captured by @PhillipinDC and is included below for your viewing pleasure. As for Mnuchin’s query, Axl Rose and Guns have given us “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Welcome to the Jungle,” and “Patience,” which we sang in my college a cappella group, so I think he has done plenty for our country, Liberia, and the world at large, thank you very much.

https://www.vulture.com/2020/05/axl-rose-and-steve-mnuchin-argue-on-twitter-about-economy.html

Page Six, May 6, 2020:

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Axl Rose, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spar on Twitter

By Vincent Barone

Steven Mnuchin has an appetite for Twitter destruction.

The treasury secretary didn’t have any patience for Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose on Twitter Wednesday when the rock legend welcomed President Trump’s cabinet member to the jungle.

“It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an a–hole,” Rose tweeted Wednesday without any context.

Mnuchin — apparently unimpressed by Axl’s 2008 attempt at a comeback, “Chinese Democracy” — shot back.

“What have you done for the country lately?” he said, with an American flag emoji.

It’s unclear what provoked Rose’s tweet.

Mnuchin has been busy overseeing the distribution of the $1,200 coronavirus stimulus checks that were included in a relief package passed by Congress in late March.

The tweet had Rose trending on Twitter.

“As crazy as 2020 has been, absolutely no one had Mnuchin and Axl Rose fight on twitter on their Bingo card,” one user tweeted.

Another lamented, “Steve Mnuchin sinks his own battleship trying to own Axl Rose. 2020 is the Florida of years.”

https://pagesix.com/2020/05/06/axl-rose-us-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-spar-on-twitter/

Page Six, May 7:

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Axl Rose escalates bizarre Twitter feud with Steven Mnuchin

By Lee Brown

The bizarre beef between Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose and Steven Mnuchin hit a crescendo early Thursday when the washed-up rocker returned for an encore to take another swipe at the treasury secretary.

Rose got more attention than he’s had in ages when the Twittersphere went wild after the treasury secretary slapped back at the “Chinese Democracy” singer for calling him “officially an a–hole.”

“What have you done for the country lately?” Mnuchin replied.

The senior government pol added a flag emoji — but accidentally used one of Liberia, which is nearly identical to the American flag except for having one star instead of 50.

Rose, 58, soon launched into an angry comeback at the official. “My bad I didn’t get we’re hoping 2 emulate Liberia’s economic model,” he wrote in the early hours Thursday.

“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,” he added.

Mnuchin has yet to respond — but the tweet war has been trending on Twitter.

“As crazy as 2020 has been, absolutely no one had Mnuchin and Axl Rose fight on twitter on their Bingo card,” one user tweeted.

Another noted of Rose’s stalled career, “The Secretary of the Treasury is spending his time during a pandemic fighting on twitter with a guy who has released one album in nearly 30 years.”

https://pagesix.com/2020/05/07/axl-rose-escalates-bizarre-twitter-feud-with-steven-mnuchin/

Forbes, same date:

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Axl Rose And Steve Mnuchin Had A Twitter Fight — This Is What We All Learned

By Seth Cohen

To say 2020 has been a surprising year is an understatement. The global pandemic has upended our country and our lives in unimaginable ways. But even as we all obsesses over statistical models of how coronavirus cases are rising and how curves are flattening, something just came along that none of us could have forecast — an Axl Rose Twitter beef with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

The exchange happened on Wednesday evening when the former Guns ’N Roses frontman posted a Tweet that was as simple as it was provocative — "It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an a———." Apparently, not one to take that kind of criticism lightly, the Treasury Secretary fired back a Tweet of his own, asking Rose “What have you done for the country lately?” accompanied by a photo of the Liberian flag. Quickly catching his mistake, Mnuchin then deleted the Tweet and replaced it with one containing the U.S. flag.

So there you have it, a Twitter beef that nobody could have imagined.

Of course like any kind of dispute, both sides have their supporters. Mnuchin had his defenders, but there was plenty of support for the seldom-tweeting Rose, who clearly tapped into a fanbase of followers who agreed with his assessment of Mnuchin. In addition to mocking the Treasury Secretary’s choice of flags (leave Liberia out of this!), Rose’s fans replied to the exchange with musical references claiming that Guns ’N Roses did something the Trump administration hasn’t done– delivered Chinese democracy (the title of GNR’s sixth studio album). Suffice it to say, the Twitter exchange was fodder for lots of witty commentary and a few much-needed laughs.

But there is also something serious about the Rose/Mnuchin Twitter exchange that says a lot about the state of America right now.

We have all become accustomed to our celebrity-centered political culture in which a majority of our political discourse has been reduced to made-for-TV moments and snackable social media content. We have also needed to make an uneasy peace with the fact that our political leaders, especially our President, use Twitter to bypass traditional forms of media to get their message out. In doing so, we have accepted that Tweets are no different than the oratorical exercises and opinion pieces of the past – they share the voice of our leaders directly to their followers.

But what is surprising about the Rose/Mnuchin exchange is not only that the Treasury Secretary responded at all, but that he did it less than two hours after Roses tweet.  This is at a time when our nation is facing the most devastating economic downturn of our lifetime. With jobless numbers climbing at a historic rate, our nation needing to borrow trillions of dollars to try and stabilizing a free-falling economy, and the global economy lurching towards a depression, it would seem our Treasury Secretary has a lot on his plate.

And yet at 8:22 PM on a Wednesday night he was tweeting responses to a rock n’ roll singer (albeit a Hall of Fame one) whose band last released a proper album in 2008.

Which is why this Twitter feud is more than just a back and forth exchange over social media, it’s about the attention of America, particularly its leaders. Sure, everyone has someone that gets under their skin, and apparently for Steve Mnuchin that person is Axl Rose. And while most of us also find ourselves occasionally clapping back at those people, throwing social media snark back in the face of those who attack us, there is a big difference between us and Steve Mnuchin. None of us are one of the most powerful officials in the United States, tasked with the responsibility to help navigate our country’s finances at a time of national crisis – Steve Mnuchin is.

The fact that Mnuchin took even a minute to stop and reflect on Roses’ tweet, and then to respond to it, begs the question what are our leaders paying attention to in this time of crisis. Sure, Mnuchin might not have the best role model in the White House when it comes to unplugging from Twitter, but shouldn’t he have the judgment to realize that a Twitter fight with a rock star who recorded an album called Appetite for Destruction maybe isn’t the best use of his time? Shouldn’t we expect more focus from our leaders and less Tweets?

Thankfully, it doesn’t look like this Twitter dust-up will get worse, and it’s probably unlikely that the two men will make nice. But perhaps we all can all take a lesson from this unexpected incursion into the otherwise serious times of this pandemic — pay attention to what matters, and let the little things (and Tweets) go. By responding to the small things, you actually make them much bigger than they otherwise would have been.

And for now, at least, it appears round one goes to Axl Rose. But we can all hold out optimism that  there won’t be a second round and the Treasury Secretary will let this beef rest and focus on what matters – the future of America.  Now THAT would be, in Axl Rose’s words, Paradise City.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethcohen/2020/05/07/axel-rose-and-steve-mnuchin-had-a-twitter-fight--this-is-what-we-all-learned/