Buenos Aires Herald 
Buenos Aires province Governor Axel Kicillof accused the government of carrying out a “filthy campaign” after President Javier Milei and Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni shared an edited video in which Kicillof allegedly says he has “no proposals” other than rejecting Milei’s policies.
The fake video post comes less than a month before the local legislative elections of September 7, and two months before the national midterm election scheduled for October 26. Kicillof is a leading figure in the negotiations to decide the candidates for the Peronist tickets for both elections.
The video was originally posted to X by journalist Horacio Cabak and shows a fragment of an interview Kicillof recently gave to Futurock. In the clip, a journalist asks Kicillof what Peronism’s proposals are apart from questioning Milei’s, to which the governor allegedly replies: “Today I don’t have a proposal, I think we need to look for it.” The video ends with the ending credits of the show Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is typically used as an internet meme for comical effect.
In the original interview, Kiciloff was answering a different question. The edited clip, which went viral throughout the weekend, stitched the answer to the journalist’s question about Peronism’s proposal.
Milei replicated the video on Saturday night saying it was Kicillof’s “confession.” An hour later it was shared by Adorni, who recently started to host a YouTube streaming show meant to debunk fake news.
Journalists and social media users were quick to point out the video had been edited, sharing the original clip instead. In it, Kicillof said that Peronism’s goals and priorities are “sovereignty, independence, social justice,” and “creating jobs” as well as “dignified working conditions” and “good salaries.” He added that, ahead of the 2025 elections, Peronism needs to “put a stop” to Milei’s policies.
On Sunday, Kicillof shared the original clip on X, saying that the government’s “specialty” is posting “digital lies, fabricated videos and filthy social media campaigns.”
“Milei’s lies and his ‘artificial intelligence’ can’t cover the truth. On September 7, in Buenos Aires province, we will answer in the ballot box,” Kicillof said. He also said that the government kicked off their 2025 campaign by “going to La Matanza for 20 minutes, in hiding, to take a cheap marketing photo.”
He referred to a photo Milei took in a poor neighborhood of the highly populated district of La Matanza, posing alongside several members of the government, candidates and political allies with a banner that said “Kirchnerism, never again.” Alluding to an alleged responsibility from the Néstor and Cristina Kirchner presidencies for the poverty in that district, it also used the slogan “Never Again,” historically linked to the human rights movement regarding the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.
A history of fake news
The government had already been accused of participating in the propagation of fake videos on social media in May, hours before the local legislative election in Buenos Aires City. At the time, Milei supporters with mass followings on X posted a deepfake artificial intelligence video falsely depicting PRO leader Mauricio Macri encouraging the public to vote for Adorni. The video also made Macri appear to announce that then PRO candidate Silvia Lospennato would not be participating in the election.
While neither Milei nor Adorni shared the AI video, Macri said that “those who published the video are people within the inner circle of La Libertad Avanza (LLA).” Milei dismissed the accusations.
The president has a history of spreading fake content on social media. Last February, a scandal broke when he backed a cryptocurrency scam called $LIBRA that had been launched a minute before his post. His post prompted many investors to buy the token, only for it to collapse and cause multi-million dollar losses less than an hour after its creation. The case is under judicial investigation in both the U.S. and Argentina.
