Victoria Villarruel is no stranger to controversy. But now, the vice presidential candidate for La Libertad Avanza (LLA) is facing heat from an unlikely corner of the internet: supporters of the musical group Bulletproof Boy Scouts or Beyond the Scene, better known as BTS.
On Wednesday, social media users on X (formerly Twitter) unearthed a series of xenophobic tweets from 2020 in which the far-right congresswoman maligned the K-Pop sensation, suggesting its band name sounded like a sexually transmitted disease.
O de enfermedad de transmisión sexual
— Victoria Villarruel (@VickyVillarruel) February 10, 2020
Villarruel has previously come under fire for her unwavering support of military officers implicated in crimes against humanity. In September, the congresswoman held an apologist tribute at the Buenos Aires City Legislature to pay homage to the “victims” of left-wing guerrilla groups prior to and during Argentina’s last military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983.
The response of the BTS A.R.M.Y., an acronym for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth, has been swift and bracing. Here are a handful of its most biting tweets: