Like Trump, Milei is a sophomoric narcissist who loads his road show with bullying vulgarity (he derides the social justice treatises of Pope Francis, who is Argentine, as “shit,” calling him a “filthy lefty”), menace (he brandishes a chainsaw at rallies) and lies. Trump's and Bolsonaro's victories, and the real possibility of Milei’s, beg the question: what's the rot inside our 21 st-century democracy they’re exploiting? But the mere reality that they’re the leading horses in the presidential races of two of the Western Hemisphere’s largest democracies would make any visiting Martian ask: what the hell’s wrong with democracy in the Western Hemisphere? and Argentina, Trump and Milei - two erratic, authoritarian populists who sneer with bullhorns at the inconveniences of constitutionalism - sit atop the voter polls. Otherwise, the nature of these match-ups is eerily similar, as are the concerns - the most glaring of which is the preservation of democracy in the Americas. If you’re wondering, Milei is 53 years old and Massa 51, compared to 80-year-old President Biden and 77-year-old former President Trump. READ MORE: From Tijuana to Tierra del Fuego, they heard Trump howling in Hialeah Then again, there are lessons in this pivotal 2023 clash of the Argentine gauchos for 2024’s battle of the American geriatrics. I’m talking about this Sunday’s presidential runoff election in Argentina between far right-wing libertarian Congressman Javier Milei and Economy Minister Sergio Massa of the ruling, center-left Peronist coalition. presidential contest between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden? Not exactly. presidential race between Trump and Biden - and for democracy.Ī reactionary demagogue, whose fans revel in his flirtations with fascism and bay for him to tear down the establishment, is up against a moderate liberal who’s got inflation and national malaise weighing on his poll numbers like a nagging in-law who’s staying for another month.Īm I previewing next year’s likely U.S. COMMENTARY Sunday's reactionary populism-versus-smug liberalism clash in Argentina holds lessons for next year's U.S.

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