An AI-generated smear video falsely accusing an Argentine journalist of incest has been circulating widely online — and the country’s president is mocking the victim.
President Javier Milei, an avid user of X, took to the social media platform furiously over the weekend, posting at least 65 messages that targeted the journalist, Julia Mengolini, a radio host critical who has been critical of his government.
Mr. Milei furiously tweeted and retweeted as supporters openly mocked Ms. Mengolini for the fake video that purported to show her having sexual relations with her brother.
Mr. Milei’s barrage marked one of the most extreme episodes in a pattern of escalating attacks against journalists by the right-wing libertarian president and his allies. Experts say Mr. Milei’s rhetoric, often laced with misogynistic insults, sexually charged innuendo and disinformation, is eroding press freedom and raising the risk of real-world violence.
Mr. Milei has even coined a slogan, “We don’t hate journalists enough,” echoing language popular among supporters of President Trump, whom the Argentine president likes to fashion himself after and who also routinely denigrates and mocks the news media.
While Mr. Milei never actually shared the AI video himself, he made clear he considered the campaign against Ms. Mengolini justified retribution.
Two years ago, Ms. Mengolini said on a television program that Mr. Milei was “in love” with his sister, Karina Milei, his closest adviser and constant presence at his side. Ms. Mengolini later made clear that she never said they had any sexual relations.
“It seems that when she lashes out with her lies, it’s fine, but when the tables turn, she cries and wants to take it to court,” Mr. Milei wrote on X last week.
Ms. Mengolini is far from alone. Several high-profile female journalists have also recently been targets of vitriol by Mr. Milei and his allies.
“Milei has a very low tolerance bar,’’ Ms. Mengolini said in an interview. “The slightest criticism drives him crazy.”
Mr. Milei’s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, but in a recent interview the president made clear he has no intention of backing down.
“Where does it say I can’t answer a journalist when he’s lying?” Mr. Milei asked.
Maria O’Donnell recently devoted a segment on her popular morning radio show to Mr. Milei’s insults and afterward was sent abusive messages by a senior administration official.
Mr. Milei amplified those insults by retweeting them and calling Ms. O’Donnell a mandrill — a colorful African primate known for its bright red posterior. It was a sexually charged insult he has repeatedly used to imply violent humiliation of people who criticize him or his administration.
When these types of insults are “directed at women, they take on a much more brutal dimension,” Ms. O’Donnell said in an interview.
Mr. Milei’s readiness to hurl insults helped propel him to the presidency in 2023, after gaining a large following as a combative television commentator who drew audiences by blaming Argentina’s political class for years of economic mismanagement.
Mr. Milei’s base continues to cheer the irreverent style he has brought to the presidency. Amnesty International has documented that he has publicly insulted at least 41 journalists since taking office in Dec. 2023.
But some analysts say Mr. Milei and his allies appear to be ratcheting up their campaign against the news media and becoming more belligerent.
“There used to be an idea of an eye for an eye — you come for me, I come for you,” Ms. O’Donnell said. “Now he openly promotes hatred, insults and outright disparagement. There’s been a shift, and it’s gotten far more aggressive.”
That turn seemed to begin in April, when Mr. Milei started using the new rallying cry — “We don’t hate journalists enough” — in public.
It bears a striking resemblance to the “You don’t hate the media enough” mantra popular among Trump supporters, and the “You don’t hate the legacy media enough” slogan cited by Elon Musk.
Mr. Milei first used the phrase shortly after his government secured a long-awaited $20-billion deal with the International Monetary Fund. Mr. Milei then made changes to rules governing local and foreign currency, leading some economists to raise questions about his government’s management of the economy.
That, in turn, drew Mr. Milei’s ire.
“What happened was a kind of escalation driven by a vengeful attitude: ‘They questioned me, they harassed me, they cast doubt on me,’” Lucas Romero, a political analyst and head of a polling firm said of Mr. Milei’s recent approach. “‘Now I feel empowered to go out and challenge them.’”
Mr. Milei’s attacks against journalists are “an attack on freedom of expression because it’s a form of indirect censorship as this sort of thing obviously tends to inhibit speech,” said Ricardo Gil Lavedra, a law professor and former judge.
The president has also turned to the courts, filing defamation lawsuits against three journalists, whom he accuses of labeling him a Nazi.
“What concerns us most right now, is the incitement to hatred,” said Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina, adding that it could lead to violence “beyond the online sphere.”
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