Top Milei candidate in midterms says Peronist voters have ‘a mental illness’

One of President Javier Milei’s top candidates for lawmaker in next week’s midterm elections has sparked outrage after saying voters who back the opposition have “a mental illness.”

Karen Reichardt, a former model and television presenter seeking to reinvent herself as a politician, made the controversial remarks during an interview with pro-government journalist Jonatan Viale.

Asked which sector of the electorate she hoped to win over in the midterms, Reichardt drew a distinction between voters from the government-aligned right-wing PRO party and those backing the opposition.

“It’s the electorate that didn’t go to vote, because the other – honestly – is a mental illness,” she said. “The person who tells you ‘I vote for Peronism or Kirchnerism’ has problems.”

When another presenter followed up to question the use of the term “mental illness,” Reichardt confirmed bluntly: “Yes.”

She went on to explain her statement: “People who don’t have the capacity to see another point of view. When you tell me, ‘I’m looking at something, I can see I don’t have sewers – why do I keep voting for the same people?’”

“It’s not that they think differently – it’s cultural. It’s not about ideas ... it’s cultural, it’s inside them,” she stressed.

When told she should not brand people as mentally ill for having another view, Reichardt clarified: “I didn’t say mentally ill people — don’t twist it. I said mental illness. It’s a way of speaking, like when you’ve got something in your head, a chip that jams.”

Reichardt, 56, is a candidate for national deputy representing Buenos Aires Province on La Libertad Avanza’s list.

She previously found fame in the 1990s as an actor and TV presenter, at one point even posing naked for Playboy magazine.

Since 2015, she has refocused her career on animal welfare, launching a dog clothing line and hosting a weekly programme promoting adoption and responsible pet care.

A mother of two, Reichardt has shown public support for President Milei and La Libertad Avanza on social media in recent years.

To illustrate her point, Reichardt – who is in second slot on the La Libertad Avanza ticket for Buenos Aires Province – gave a personal example: “I live in the capital and the province, in Pilar and here. And I’m from the south side. I go to Banfield… it’s disgusting, and you say, why do they keep voting for the same thing?”

The candidate has also faced criticism over old social media posts unearthed by users in which she insulted Argentina’s football star Lionel Messi.

– TIMES/NA