Milei’s Insults Energize His Base. Investors, Not So Much
You can’t insult your way to stability and prosperity.
Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg via Getty Images
If you thought Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech was incendiary, try Javier Milei’s version.
The libertarian president of Argentina used his annual address to congress to unleash a barrage of insults, attacks and provocations at the Peronist opposition, blaming it for the country’s historic malaise. “Ignorants,” “delinquents” and a “bunch of murderers and thieves,” were among the epithets Milei hurled during an energetic speech that stretched close to two hours on Sunday. “It would be fun to debate with you if you knew anything,” he quipped at one point, prompting boos and jeers from rival lawmakers, exactly the visceral reaction the president was hoping to excite.