Argentina recently elected a new conservative president, shocking much of the world. Javier Milei, a political outsider leading the populist libertarian party, defeated the ruling socialist government as well as the more establishment centrist party as Argentinians finally had enough of triple-digit inflation and economic ruin under the socialist party.
Milei is visiting the United States this week to celebrate his victory and is scheduled to visit the White House on Tuesday. However, Joe Biden will be notably absent, as Milei will meet instead with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
On Monday, the new Argentinian President arrived in New Jersey, where he traveled to New York for a visit to a Jewish holy site that serves as the burial place for an influential Jewish leader. He then took lunch with Bill Clinton and Joe Biden’s Latin American adviser, Christopher Dodd.
Relations have been strained between the White House and Milei since, during his campaign, the new president had some not-so-flattering things to say about Joe Biden. Milei said: “Biden is a left-wing president. So it is not surprising that he is also putting the world’s leading power in check. Biden himself is a threat to Western values.”
Whether that was sincere criticism or an attempt to garner support from Argentinia’s right-wing voters matters little. In response, perhaps, Biden waited three days to call the new president and congratulate him on his victory, a move largely seen as intentionally disrespectful.
The White House released a readout of Biden’s eventual call with Milei, saying: “The two leaders discussed the importance of continuing to build on the strong relationship between the United States and Argentina on economic issues, on regional and multilateral cooperation, and on shared priorities, including advocating for the protection of human rights, addressing food insecurity and investing in clean energy.”
When asked, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Relations John Kirby made excuses for Biden’s absence, saying: “President-elect Milei will be coming to Washington, D.C., largely to meet with the IMF over — and the World Bank — over — over their fiscal and economic issues. But while he’s here in town, he’ll have a chance to meet with some National Security Council folks, including Jake Sullivan.”
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Biden is scheduled to be in Georgis Tuesday for the funeral of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died at age 99 last week. Kirby apologized for the president, maintaining the snub wasn’t intentional. He continued: “The President won’t, unfortunately, be able to meet with him because of domestic travel. But obviously, we want to continue to look for ways to cooperate with Argentina.”
The Biden White House certainly isn’t happy with the way Argentina’s elections unfolded, but the country had finally hit rock bottom, and voters had seen enough of mainstream politicians.
Perhaps it hits too close to home as most polls show former President Trump winning in most key states as many voters appear to have finally seen enough of this administration. If Argentina undergoes a renaissance under conservative leadership, other nations will certainly take notice, including the United States, and that could be very bad news for democrats in this country.