The fallout of the Buenos Aires City legislative elections on Sunday may be the final nail in the coffin for the once mutually beneficial relationship between President Javier Milei and former incumbent Mauricio Macri.

Milei’s party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) achieved a first victory in the country’s capital vote, ending almost two decades of dominance in the city from Macri’s PRO party.

“Maybe Macri needs to understand that his time has passed,” Milei said in an interview with news channel A24 on Monday morning.

LLA and candidate Manuel Adorni won the election with 30%, leaving Peronism second with 27.3% and PRO third (15.9%), their worst election ever in the district they have been dominant for the past two decades.

The already strained relationship between PRO and LLA reached a breaking point over the weekend when, hours before the election, popular libertarian troll accounts spread two deepfake AI-generated videos of Macri and candidate Silvia Lospennato saying she was stepping down from the race. PRO publicly attributed this to LLA, saying they were attempting “electoral fraud.” 

“I understand that he’s a little old for some things and doesn’t get them,” Milei said, dismissing the accusation. He added that the videos are “clearly made out to be a joke” and that it has to do with the “social media logic and humor.” On Sunday, Milei had said Macri had “become a whiner.”

Later on Sunday night after the results were announced, Macri replied to Milei: “Let’s make a deal: I’ll stop whining because of the malice and perversions of those who surround you, if you stop whining about what journalists and economists say,” he said, referring to recent lawsuits Milei filed against three journalists.

“The perversions came from [PRO’s] side,” Milei said. “Don’t go psycho on me, because I’ll say something even more psycho,” he warned.

Alliance in Buenos Aires province?

The next major electoral race is the Buenos Aires province legislative election, which will take place in September. Some PRO leaders have been in talks with LLA for months to arrive at an agreement for a joint ticket in the province, where Peronism is especially strong.

Milei said the talks are “very advanced, whether Macri likes it or not.” He added that PRO members “are noticing that PRO has become an obsolete instrument” and that it’s “in no condition to end Kirchnerism.”

While he accused a part of PRO of “scamming people” because they have “leftist ideas,” he said he is willing to welcome PRO members that want to “embrace the ideas of freedom.”

“We will be a party in which everything center-right is included,” he added. Former PRO leader and presidential candidate in 2023 Patricia Bullrich, who is currently Milei’s Security Minister, recently made her departure from PRO official and joined LLA.

Despite the traded accusations, Macri said he is open to forming an official electoral alliance with Milei, although he didn’t specify if it would be for the Buenos Aires province legislative election or for the national one, which will be held in October.

“Without respect, like in recent weeks, we can’t do it. If there’s respect, we’re willing to have a dialogue with La Libertad Avanza,” Macri said on Sunday. “We’re willing to see where this can go, but let’s take a week off first.”

Milei didn’t rule out making amends with Macri, but warned: “He said serious things about me, I didn’t say anything serious about him. If you hit me, I’ll defend myself.”