Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin shrugged off criticism that he and actress wife Louise Linton looked like villains from the “James Bond” franchise after a photograph of the couple posing with a sheet of money featuring Mnuchin’s signature was widely mocked on social media.
“I guess I should take that as a compliment that I look like a villain in a great, successful James Bond movie,” Mnuchin told “Fox News Sunday.”
“But let me just say that I was very excited about having my signature on the money. It’s obviously a great privilege and a great honor, and something I’m very proud of being the secretary and [I] look forward to helping the American people,” the former banker continued.
This is not the first time Mnuchin and Linton, who were married in a lavish ceremony in June, have come under scrutiny for appearing to be out of touch with middle-class America.
Linton faced a backlash in August after she aggressively responded to a woman on Instagram who slammed Linton for flaunting her expensive designer wardrobe while traveling on official government business to Kentucky with her husband.
“I didn’t realize the pictures were public, and going on the Internet and viral,” Mnuchin added, referring to the image of him and Linton with the money.
Both Mnuchin and U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza’s signatures are on new prints of the $1 bill, which are set to be in circulation by December.
Mnuchin on Sunday revealed he changed his signature for the occasion.
“I had a very, very messy signature that you could barely read,” he said. “It was very effective in signing things, but I felt since it was going to be on the dollar bill forever I should have a nice, clean signature.”
