Javier Milei – a libertarian candidate – was elected as the next president of Argentina on Sunday. The mainstream media reacted to Milei’s historic victory by immediately painting him as a “far-right radical,” despite being a libertarian politician.
Argentine voters soundly elected 53-year-old Milei in Sunday’s runoff presidential election.
With 87% of the ballots counted after Sunday’s election, Milei garnered 56% of the votes versus only 44% for Sergio Massa – the center-left economy minister. Massa – of the incumbent left-wing Peronist coalition – conceded defeat before all of the votes were counted.
Argentina’s annual inflation rate skyrocketed to 143%. The poverty rate has surpassed 40%, which has Argentinians demanding leaders who can break the economic collapse.
Milei, a political outsider, was able to cruise to an easy presidential win by proposing unorthodox solutions to combat Argentina’s worst economic crises in decades.
During the campaign trail, Milei proposed to replace the peso and adopt the U.S. dollar as Argentina’s official currency.
Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, has previously vowed to “blow up” the central bank if he is elected president. Milei once described the central bank as “one of the greatest thieves in the history of mankind.”
He has also pledged to reduce the number of federal government agencies from 18 to eight. Milei has also declared that he will slash government spending, regulations, and taxes. He has also proposed privatizing state industries and transitioning public education to a voucher-based system.
Immediately following his presidential election, legacy media painted the libertarian politician as a “far-right radical.”
The Washington Post ran with the headline: “Trump-like libertarian Javier Milei wins Argentina’s presidency.”
“A radical libertarian and admirer of Donald Trump rode a wave of voter rage to win Argentina’s presidency on Sunday, crushing the political establishment and bringing the sharpest turn to the right in four decades of democracy in the country,” the Jeff Bezos-owned publication began.
The outlet added that the South American country has taken a “leap into the unknown.”
WaPo claimed that “anger won over fear” when Argentinian citizens elected Milei, and the libertarian politician “brings the far-right to power in the third-largest economy in Latin America, and it could have profound implications for the region and the world.”
The New York Times framed Milei’s win with the headline: “Argentina Elects Javier Milei in Victory for Far Right.”
The article accused Milei of embracing “conspiracy theories” that have “parallels with Donald J. Trump.”
The NYT called the election of Milei a “victory for the global far-right movement” and a “lurch to the right for a nation struggling under an economic crisis and a sign of the enduring strength of the global far right.”
CNN said Milei’s victory is “wrenching his country to the right with a bombastic anti-establishment campaign that drew comparisons to former U.S. President Donald Trump – all against the backdrop of one of the world’s highest inflation rates.”
Reuters described Milei’s economic proposals as “shock therapy.”
“Milei is pledging economic shock therapy. His plans include shutting the central bank, ditching the peso, and slashing spending, potentially painful reforms that resonated with voters angry at the economic malaise,” the outlet reported.
Milei will be sworn in as Argentina’s president on Dec. 10.
Coincidentally, the mainstream media suffered a similar meltdown when Giorgia Meloni was elected the prime minister of Italy in 2022. Legacy media – which often embraces identity politics – slammed Meloni despite her shattering the glass ceiling to become Italy’s first female prime minister.
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