Milei: Hate, peace, Popes and social media

An unexpectedly short conclave this week saw the emergence of a new Pope, Leo XIV, who kicked off his papacy wishing “peace to all.” Almost immediately, Argentina’s President Javier Milei engaged in another bout of narcissism as he posted an image made with generative artificial intelligence depicting a lion dressed as Pope. The message accompanying the post read: “THE HEAVENLY FORCES HAVE GIVEN THEIR VERDICT, LOUD AND CLEAR. No more words, your honour.” Milei’s post quickly went viral, as his followers – organised in a “troll army,” commanded by controversial political advisor Santiago Caputo – pushed the meme through well-oiled networks of accounts on social media. Juan Luis González, an editor for Noticias newsmagazine and Milei’s first biographer (albeit unofficially), quickly reacted on the same social media network: “It was impossible for he who believes God speaks to him via his dead dog to not see a sign from the heavenly forces in the naming of the new Pope.”

Even Cristina Fernández de Kirchner sought to make Leo XIV a little bit her own, posting: “I don’t believe in coincidences, and today, one more time, I can confirm it. On the day of the Luján Virgin, patron saint of Argentina and Río Gallegos, we have a new Pope, who remembered Francis warmly, spoke in our language, prayed for peace, and adopted the name Leo XIV … the labourer Pope, father of the Church’s social doctrine, based on his wonderful encyclical ‘Recrum Novarum.’” All of these messages were posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter before it was rebranded by billionaire Elon Musk (he also substantially loosened content moderation on it).

That politics is a struggle for power and,in great part,  a battle for the attention of society is probably an old and well acknowledged fact of humanity, particularly in democratic contexts. As is antagonising with a well-known opponent – one of the pillars of any political strategy, probably older than antiquity. Yet, we seem to be amazed at how polarised societies, particularly in the so-called “Western world,” see the flames of division and hatred flamed by populist leaders who are vying for power. For many, it is reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s, when right-wing populist leaders like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini took advantage of their countrymen’s disillusionment to pull them toward the extremes of anger and hatred, ultimately sparking World War II. There is an apparent contradiction in these views, which see the strategies of the new right as innovative on the one hand and then replicated from the books of relatively recent history on the other. It also feels a bit extreme to compare the current political atmosphere with the prelude to a world war, even if the future is unpredictable and major geopolitical powers are facing off across the globe.

What is truly disruptive about what is happening in the information ecosystem today is the consolidation of a relatively new set of communications technologies that have eased the hegemonic grip on power that traditional institutions, from political parties to mass media, wielded in the modern era. Indeed, the emergence of the Internet as a freely interconnected network of ideas was turbocharged by the proliferation of smartphones, giving it constant reach and engagement capacity. Ultimately, as social media went capillary and reached nearly universal adoption, the game had completely changed in a matter of years – and with it  came a series of new gatekeepers of power.

First and foremost, those who can effectively leverage the incredible power of the Internet in the smartphone era can become incredibly popular in a very short period of time, and with a relatively small investment. In politics it was probably former US president Barack Obama who first conducted a professional and highly effective digital presidential campaign in a major country. The model was quickly replicated, iterated, and optimised. The infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal, together with the intrusion of foreign agents via advertising on properties owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google (founded by Larry Page and Sergei Brin, who still have operational control), marked Donald Trump’s rise to power in 2016. They are also an integral part of his comeback story, together with the domestication of the Silicon Valley elite.

Javier Milei’s rise to power is a direct consequence of social media, where he’s proven to be a masterful communicator. He’s also surrounded himself with bespoke teams that allowed him to outperform his rivals despite substantial disadvantages in the realm of traditional media. In previous columns I coined the term “synthetic power” to try to explain how an outsider like Milei managed to construct political capital from his capacity to harness digital communities built on social media, in order to ultimately win an election. He effectively dismembered the Juntos por el Cambio coalition first, then went on to outperform the pan-Peronist front Unión por la Patria, ending nearly a decade of bi-coalitionism as he won the presidential election in 2023. During the early days of the Milei administration, I warned of the limits of synthetic power, noting that if the recession he engineered in order to hammer down inflation led to popular unrest, his digital communities wouldn’t have the capacity to respond. Clearly, Milei did manage to survive with minimal upheaval in the streets, while effectively navigating the bureaucracy of the state by circumventing it when needed.

There is a certain outrage among commentators who note that the next stage of Milei’s communications strategy is to foster “hate” against certain groups. Initially, it was the “caste,” a term mainly aimed at his political opponents but that was broad enough to encompass anyone who wasn’t explicitly within the libertarian La Libertad Avanza coalition. While he’s always had a thing with journalists, he seems to have ramped up the level of bellicosity as of late. Accusing reporters of victimising themselves, he posts on social media: “We don’t hate journalists enough.” Santiago Caputo’s troll army has been on the offensive against journalists from day one and libertarian influencers picked up the message and made them their own, with Daniel Parisini – known online as “Gordo Dan” – suggesting the Milei administration begin jailing journalists (@GordoDan is, by the way, seen as a potential candidate in this year’s electoral cycle).

While it may seem novel in the social media age for Milei to hate journalists, it’s also one of the oldest games in the book. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were particularly good at it, as is Donald Trump in the United States. While Santiago Caputo can be seen as a skilled political strategist who knows how to use the digital ecosystem to his favour, there doesn’t seem to be something as disruptive as most commentators attribute to him. Following in the footsteps of his mentor Jaime Durán Barba, who worked together with Marcos Peña to construct and sustain a President Mauricio Macri, “Caputito” and Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei – aka “the boss” – have done the same with Javier. No matter how much Santiago hates Peña (who was Macri’s Cabinet Chief), they both deployed strategies to try and direct society’s attention away from problematic issues for the administration, generally by antagonising with a rival. And while Peña tried to keep a low profile, despite being the most powerful person after the president, Caputo pretends to have a behind-the-scenes role while consistently building his image as Milei’s “dark priest.” A Rasputin-like figure who engenders fear in his opponents. He has physically threatened deputy Facundo Manes and recently adopted a bully attitude with a photojournalist. Both incidents were caught on camera, make of that what you will.

The Milei administration has built its strength on synthetic power and has effectively navigated the first part of the La Libertad Avanza leader’s presidency. With the campaign fully underway for the 2025 midterms, they will once again rely on their not-so-secret weapon, probably achieving relatively good outcomes. That’s why they all tried to make the new Pope a little bit their own. On social media.