President Javier Milei gave his followers a full show on Wednesday night for the presentation of his latest book Capitalism, Socialism And The Neoclassic Trap. The president gave a fiery speech railing against socialism and abortion — he called the latter a “murderous agenda” — but the headline was the brief musical show where Milei appeared as the frontman of a rock band. 

“I am doing this because I wanted to sing,” Milei told around 8,000 of his supporters as he went on stage at the Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires. “I’ve always done this acapella. Now I wanted to have musicians.”

Dressed in his customary black leather jacket, he sang Panic Show, a song by rock band La Renga that has become an anthem for libertarians in Argentina, despite the band’s opposition. The president frequently sings a part of this song before giving speeches to his supporters.

The band that appeared alongside the president was made up of libertarian deputy Alberto “Bertie” Benegas Lynch, his brother Joaquín, and journalist Marcelo Duclos, co-author of Milei’s biography. After the musical performance, Milei gave an hour-long speech and later joined a panel with presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni and libertarian deputy José Luis Espert.

The event was live streamed on the presidential YouTube channel, but the musical section was left out. The only footage of the moment was taken by people recording on their phones. No professional video equipment was allowed inside, aside from the devices used by the presidential team.

Milei devoted part of his speech to speak about his book, claiming that it provides tools to fight what he calls “21st century socialism.” But he also went against abortion, despite recently saying that overturning legal pregnancy interruption in Argentina is not on his government agenda.

Citing a passage from the Exodus book of the Bible, Milei claimed that abortion was a mechanism the Egyptians used in biblical times to “annihilate Jews.”

“Abortion is an agenda that is over 3,000 years old, and it is completely murderous,” he said.

Milei was initially scheduled to present his book at the Buenos Aires Book Fair on May 12. However, he decided to call it off and do it at the Luna Park stadium on the grounds that he thought the organization would “sabotage” the event. “We need to thank [Book Fair organizers] El Libro Foundation, which gifted us this party with their boycott attempt,” he said on Wednesday night.

Tickets for the event at Luna Park were handed out free of charge. According to the government, the event was funded using earnings from the president’s book. Publisher Planeta announced on Wednesday that Milei had given up the book’s economic rights. The president later explained they were transferred to Distribuidora Belgrano Norte SRL (DBN), a music distribution company that paid for the rental of the stadium.

In recent days, Milei has been accused of plagiarism in his new book. According to an investigation published by Noticias magazine, he allegedly copied exact paragraphs from published works by two Chilean economists and a group of researchers from Argentina’s top publicly-funded research institute, CONICET, as well as a United States website. 

“There is no plagiarism of any kind; everything is within intellectual property law,” the presidential spokesman said on Tuesday. Milei has already been accused of plagiarism on previous occasions.

Lyrics of Panic Show, Milei’s favorite song

Hello everyone, I am the lion
The beast roared in the middle of the avenue
Everyone ran, without understanding
Panic show in broad daylight

Please don’t run away from me
I am the king of a lost world
I am the king, and I will rip you apart
All accomplices are good for my appetite [Milei changes the lyrics to “All the caste is good for my appetite”]

Don’t run away, come to me
Undress and face my teeth
I am the king, the lion
Come and learn what it feels like

Please don’t run away from me
I am the king of a lost world
I am the king, and I will rip you apart
All accomplices are good for my appetite

Hello everyone, I am the lion
The beast roared in the middle of the avenue
Everyone ran, without understanding
Panic show in broad daylight

Please don’t run away from me
I am the king of a lost world
I am the king, and I will rip you apart
All accomplices are good for my appetite