BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) 鈥 Argentinian presidential candidate Javier Milei railed against socialism and praised Donald Trump in an interview with U.S. host Tucker Carlson that has underlined how global attention is focusing on Argentina since Milei emerged as the frontrunner in the country's presidential race.
In the interview posted Thursday on Carlson鈥檚 page on X, formerly known as Twitter, the self-described 鈥渁narcho capitalist鈥 Milei characterized campaigns to legalize abortion and to place restrictions on economies over climate change as being part of a 鈥渟ocialist agenda.鈥
Carlson, who was fired from Fox News earlier this year, traveled to Argentina to interview Milei, who rocked Argentina鈥檚 political establishment when he that serve as a massive poll of voter preferences ahead of the October election.
During the interview, and called on him to 鈥渃ontinue with his fight against socialism, because he鈥檚 one of the few who fully understood that the battle is against socialism, that the battle is against the statists.鈥
Milei, who has been a lawmaker in Argentina鈥檚 lower house of Congress since 2021, also characterized the movement around climate change as being part of the 鈥渟ocialist agenda.鈥 Milei went on to say that 鈥渢he world has experienced other peaks of high temperatures like it's currently experiencing,鈥 adding that 鈥渋t鈥檚 a cyclical behavior.鈥
Abortion, he added, is 鈥渁 much darker鈥 side of that same agenda because 鈥渁s a consequence of humans causing harm to the planet, they then advocate for the assassination of people in the mother鈥檚 womb.鈥 Argentina legalized abortion in 2020.
Carlson was fired from Fox News earlier this year after the network agreed to pay more than $787 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over airing false claims regarding the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Carlson鈥檚 interview with Milei comes shortly after the former Fox News host interviewed the nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n, who .
Carlson posted an introduction to the Milei interview summarizing Argentina鈥檚 delicate economic situation, including a scene in which he goes to an illegal foreign exchange house and exchanges $100 to illustrate the depreciation of the Argentine peso.
Carlson was filmed receiving stacks of 100-peso bills at a time when the unofficial exchange rate is around 720 pesos per U.S. dollar (Argentina also has 500, 1,000 and 2,000-peso bills). Access to the official foreign exchange market is severely limited .
Carlson characterized Argentina as a cautionary tale to the rest of the world considering that it鈥檚 already experiencing the 鈥渉yperinflation and reckless monetary policy鈥 that 鈥渃ould soon devastate the global economy.鈥
Argentina is experiencing annual inflation of but has yet to reach hyperinflation levels.
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who owns X, commented on Carlson's post, saying: 鈥淕overnment overspending, which is the fundamental cause of inflation, has wrecked countless countries.鈥
During the interview, Milei also harshly criticized Argentine Pope Francis, saying he 鈥渉as an affinity for murderous communists鈥 claiming he supports 鈥渄ictators鈥 like the presidents of Cuba and Venezuela. 鈥淭hat is to say, he鈥檚 on the side of bloody dictatorships,鈥 Milei said. Milei has insulted the pope in the past, leading to protests by priests in Argentina.
Milei also said that as president he wouldn鈥檛 do 鈥渂usiness with China鈥 nor 鈥渁ny communist鈥 and that he wants to be a 鈥渕oral beacon for the continent.鈥
