Abstract

MONTANO SANCHEZ, Luis Ernesto. Discontent Found Its Voice: Javier Milei’s Discourse and Performativity on TikTok. rev.estud.soc. [online]. 2025, n.94, pp.121-143.  Epub Oct 30, 2025. ISSN 0123-885X.  https://doi.org/10.7440/res94.2025.07.

This article examines Javier Milei’s discourse on TikTok during the 2023 presidential campaign and his first one hundred days in office. Using a qualitative approach, it draws on María Esperanza Casullo’s concept of the populist myth, which seeks to identify who the “hero” is, the characteristics and motivations that drive their political action, and the arguments that legitimize them as an outsider and representative of the “people.” It also considers who the “villain” is, or what threatens the “hero” and his “people,” and how the relationship between leader and people is articulated. To this end, the study analyzes the official account @javiermileii and the support account @elpelucamilei, in order to assess whether they follow a populist logic and whether there is narrative continuity between them. The findings show continuity in Milei’s discourse from the campaign through the start of his administration, marked by a style that rejects the label of traditional politician. The support account, moreover, is more effective than the official one in adapting content to TikTok’s emotional and visual logic. Milei exemplifies a populist leader who capitalizes on social discontent by reinforcing an anti-political discourse that, far from moderating once in power, intensifies to legitimize his policies. This reflects a form of media populism aligned with a new wave of populism, grounded in socio-digital platforms as central vehicles of legitimacy, in a global context of democratic disengagement and the spectacularization of politics.

Keywords : anti-political discourse; Argentina; democracy; Milei; polarization; populism.

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