Axl Rose feuding with Steve Mnuchin; Guns N’ Roses’ “Live & Let Die” soundtracks Trump’s mask factory tour
Remember Power Trip and Trapt's social media feud from earlier in our seemingly endless pandemic hell? Here's one, perhaps, to top that: Axl Rose and US Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin appear to be sparring on twitter. It started when Axl tweeted, "It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole." While Axl didn't specify exactly what inspired the tweet, it's possible it was related to a lawsuit Mnuchin is facing, as CBS reports, over some children born from one or more immigrant parents who are being denied federal stimulus checks by the Trump administration.
Whatever the reason, not only did Mnuchin respond, he did so with an emoji of the Liberian flag. The tweet has since been removed and replaced with one with a US flag, but of course, the internet never forgets:
In response to the flag, and Mnuchin's question, "What have you done for the country lately?" Axl replied, "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."
As CNN points out, during a Monday interview on Fox Business Network, Mnuchin said that while it was "too hard to tell at this point" if international travel could return this year, "this is a great time for people to explore America."
Trump himself had a Guns N' Roses run-in of his own earlier this week, of a different sort, when he toured an Arizona mask factory. As The Guardian reports, Guns N' Roses' cover of "Live and Let Die" played while Trump, maskless, spoke with Honeywell employees about how many masks they make a day. Watch a video below, which seems too on the nose to be real, but from all reports, actually happened:
Switching gears entirely, Guns N' Roses also announced a new children's book this week, Sweet Child O’ Mine. It was created in collaboration with novelist James Patterson, is illustrated by Jennifer Zivion, and is due out on September 1. Here's the publisher's description and cover:
Iconic band Guns N' Roses gives new meaning to the beloved lyrics from Sweet Child O' Mine in this vivid, heartfelt picture book. Follow a child's wondrous discovery that music is everywhere around us--from the gentle wind blowing through the bluest skies, to the fearful crash of the thunder and the rain.
With Jennifer Zivoin's evocative, sweeping paintings, Sweet Child O' Mine celebrates love and music, and how they bring us together in the sweetest ways.