Shocking election of Argentina's Javier Milei an indictment of the Left: Gingrich

President-elect Milei has garnered appeal among the Argentinian people and represents a broader global trend of electing far-right leaders. — Image credit: AP Images

Argentina will be transitioning to a new far-right presidency when Javier Milei takes office on Dec. 10. The 53-year-old libertarian prevailed in a run-off election in November by advocating for radical changes to address the country’s economic challenges, marked by high inflation and a volatile currency. But Milei has only a limited number of congressional seats and faces a fractured Congress, posing difficulties in implementing his proposed policies.

Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich explains why Milei has garnered appeal among the Argentinian people and identifies a broader global trend of electing far-right leaders.

What you see now is, I think, a desperate effort by millions and millions of Argentines to go out and to say, ‘We’re fed up, we’re gonna take a gamble.’ And believe me, this is a gamble.

I would say that in many ways, Melei is more radical, bolder, more of a libertarian than Donald Trump. He is committed to very dramatic change. He would like to replace the peso, which is the official government money of Argentina and is collapsing in value. He’d like to replace it with the U.S. dollar. He’d like to force fiscal discipline in the country. He is shifting their policies from being pro-Palestine to pro-Israel. He, himself, is so pro-Israeli, that he’s seriously considering converting from Catholicism to Judaism. The first place he visited in the United States was at the gravesite of a very famous rabbi, who was considered a very holy man.

He’s going to be very different. He’s going to be very disruptive. He does not have a majority in the Senate or the Chamber of Deputies, so he’s going to have a challenge getting his program through in detail. But he has the potential to reach out and mobilize the Argentinian people. He has the potential to use the president’s powers, which are fairly extensive in Argentina, and actually change a lot of things just by decree. And in the process, he’s setting up the arguments that matter.

If he can bring inflation down dramatically, if he can start really creating jobs, if he can encourage investment back in Argentina, he might become very popular, and he might be the beginning of a new trend. And that would fit what we’re seeing happen around the world.

The election of Javier Millay, in Argentina was a genuine earthquake. The fact is, he is a libertarian. He’s an economist. He campaigned against socialism to campaign against the welfare state. He called for dramatic cuts in government, in fact, so dramatic that one of his campaign tools was a power saw that he would go around and take just a big chainsaw that he would carry, and say, This is what I’m going to take to the bureaucracy. He ran against the incumbent member of the establishment and beat him 5644. And people realize that this is a real signal about how fed up the Argentinians are with what’s happening to their country, and their pocketbook. Argentina right now has 124% annual inflation. To deal with that. We got upset when reached 7.8%. Last year here in the United States, it’s still at about 3.4. And we’re not very happy about it. But can you imagine how Americans would be if we had 124% A year of inflation? This is sort of the final combination of per Nismo, which was created by This is the final combination of what happened with Peron and the rise of Peron’s tradition. crone was an authoritarian figure, who was a real socialist, and a real authoritarian. He really modeled himself in many ways off of Mussolini in Italy. And he took over a country which at one time, at the turn of the last century, around 1900, was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And he managed to so ruin the economy, and in the process, so ruin the political system that they have never recovered. What you see now is, I think, a desperate effort by millions and millions of Argentines to go out and to say, would fill up, we’re gonna take a gamble. And believe me, this is a gamble. I would say that in many ways. Melee is more radical, bolder, more of a libertarian than Donald Trump. He is committed to very dramatic change. He would like to replace the peso, which is the official government, government money of Argentina, and is collapsing in value, you’d like to replace it with the US dollar. He’d like to force fiscal discipline in the country. He is shifting their policies from being pro Palestine to pro Israel. He himself is so pro Israeli, that he’s seriously considering converting from Catholicism to Judaism. The first place he visited in the United States was at the gravesite of a very famous rabbi, who was considered a very holy man. He’s going to be very different. He’s going to be very disruptive. He does not have a majority in the Senate or the Chamber of Deputies. So he’s going to have a challenge, getting his program through in detail. But he has the potential to reach out and mobilize the Argentinian people. He has the potential to use the President’s powers, which are fairly extensive in Argentina, and actually changed a lot of things just by decree. And in the process, he’s setting up the arguments that matter if he can bring inflation down dramatically. If he can start really creating jobs, if he can encourage investment back in Argentina, he might become very popular, and he might be the beginning of a new trend. And that would fit what we’re seeing happen around the world. We’re in Holland, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, the conservatives who are repudiating the old order, are gaining ground virtually everywhere. And of course, the establishment left is just going crazy and can understand that since their policies have failed us badly, how could all these people turn against them? That may tell you something about what might happen in the United States in 2024