Argentina Election Campaign Gets Intense With Meme Wars, Influencer Battle

In almost a month, Argentina will be conducting its presidential elections amid a historic economic crisis. The campaign is heating up, and it involves memes, TikTok videos, influencers, and even Elon Musk.

According to Reuters, right-wing Trump fan, Javier Milei, is getting some help from a "loose band of twenty-something influencers" to get ahead of his opponents. Unlike many right-wing candidates in other countries, Milei is actually popular among the youth, despite him emulating Trump.

The influencers say that they are just "unpaid volunteers" who believe in Milei's libertarian ideas. They are helping him drive an online battle and have even helped the far-right candidate to become the Argentina election's frontrunner.

The libertarian candidate's speeches are being shared on TikTok, with him explaining the inflation and the peso on anime-style cartoons also becoming viral on TikTok. He is also featured on TikTok videos tearing out names of ministries that he plans to shut down. Critics say this plan might be bad for the government overall.

"Social media is the new way of doing politics," said right-wing influencer Eugenia Rolon who describes herself as an "anti-feminist." She has over 100,000 followers on both Instagram and TikTok.

Milei has been described as following the playbooks of former US President Donald Trump and former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, with followers waging a "guerrilla-style campaign online" with "acid-tongued diatribes and theatrical rallies" against his opponents.

The libertarian candidate is even getting some followers back in the US, with controversial ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson and X (formerly Twitter) CEO Elon Musk becoming fans, even giving him shout-outs, which he has used.

Argentina Election Frontrunner Javier Milei's Opponents Fighting Back With Memes

While Milei is enjoying support from young influencers, his opponents are also using the internet to attack him as they begin to employ memes and humor to point out the right-winger's flaws.

Peronist economy minister Sergio Massa and conservative ex-security minister Patricia Bullrich may be lagging in opinion polls, but the candidates have incorporated memes into their campaigns as they attack the frontrunner. Their supporters often employ these memes to show that many of Milei's policies are dangerous to implement, according to Dunya.

Jeremias Madrazo, an influencer who has satirized Milei's proposals on YouTube, recently went viral as he spoofed and satirized Milei's proposal to dollarize the economy. He also helped spread the hashtag #JavierDelay, which is a pun on the candidate's name and his unfeasible plans.

Who Is Leading in the Argentina Elections Right Now?

The second round of the Argentina elections will be held on October 22. Should a candidate receive at least 45% of the vote, he or she will become the next president of Argentina. Should a candidate not reach that threshold, a presidential runoff between the Top 2 candidates would happen. So, who is leading right now, and is a runoff likely?

According to AS/COA, an August 30 poll by Open, Simultaneous, and Obligatory Primaries (PASO) has Milei leading with just under 35% of the poll, followed closely by Massa at just above 30%, while Bullrich is in third place. However, during a September 5 poll, all three top candidates fell as more people are now unsure who to vote for as compared to the previous poll.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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