Tensions are running high and President Javier Milei is fuelling the flames, continuing to spark controversy online with his social media appetites and likes.
Milei, 53, was roundly condemned by rights campaigners, political opponents and concerned citizens this week after he liked a post on the X social network that showed a mock-up image of his current political enemy, Chubut Province Governor Ignacio Torres, as a person with Down Syndrome.
Torres responded with resignation to the post, pointing out the disrespectful nature of it. The original post – made by user @liberaldeMilei – has since been removed from public view.
“We shouldn’t be afraid to speak up, don’t let them disrespect us anymore. How much hate can there be in a person sarcastically tweeting and laughing at a boy with Down syndrome? What could have happened to that person in life to have so much hate and resentment?" Torres asked in a post on social media.
Highlighting Milei’s attitude towards his rival and his disrespect for those who do not think alike, Torres said he was "shocked to see something like that."
"Not because it was done to me, I have thick skin and I’m convinced that what we’re doing is right, but that has a very dangerous component. What kind of example is the President setting for the new generations? Mockery, hate, insults,” he stated.
In a statement, the Down Syndrome Association of the Argentine Republic (ASDRA) slammed the president’s “act of discrimination.”
ASDRA highlighted that "President Milei endorsed messages on X that mocked Torres for supposedly not opening his email account. One of the ‘likes’ that the president granted was to a meme that showed Torres with characteristics of a person with Down syndrome, as if that condition was the reason why the governor had not seen his mail on time."
The NGO remarked that "Milei's outburst is worrying because before he assumed the Presidency he used the term ‘mogólico’ to insult and disqualify a person.”
Dominique Kantor, the vice-president of the ASDRA's advisory council, called on the president to "apologise publicly.”
“We feel offended. We don't deserve to be wronged by him saying those things,” she said.
In a remarkable press conference on Wednesday, Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni denied that the incident had taken place.
"The president did not participate in such an aberration," claimed the official.
"We deeply regret everything that happened, President Milei was not a party to such an aberration," the spokesman said.
"I understand that this publication then disappeared, I do not remember the user's name, but of course we appeal that these kind of issues do not happen again in any environment and under any circumstances; it is painful and on a personal level it hurts me very much," he declared.
– TIMES/NA
Comments