Journalist Julia Mengolini was the latest victim of an online smear campaign conducted by avowed supporters of  President Javier Milei. An array of libertarian trolls posted messages and content — some of them reposted by Milei  —  accusing Mengolini, who founded Futurock radio, of having an incestuous relationship with her brother.

The users even spread a forged legal notice where Mengolini admits her relationship and artificial intelligence-generated images showing her having intercourse with her brother.

“This case is disgusting, they are escalating,” Mengolini said in a voice note sent to journalist Nancy Pazos and played in the latter’s show on the C5N TV channel. 

“And well… I broke down, Nancy, I can’t take it anymore,” she said in tears.

Mengolini also accused La Libertad Avanza (LLA) congresswoman Lilia Lemoine of participating in the fake news campaign.

The president’s role

Milei himself participated in the campaign, sharing several posts on his social media accounts. “We don’t hate trash journalists enough,” he wrote in all caps, adding that he considers “(90%)” of them to be corrupt.

This is not the first time that Milei or his supporters have engaged in smear campaigns or spread AI-generated content against their critics. In 2024, socialist deputy Esteban Paulón was on the receiving end of homophobic attacks by libertarian trolls who accused him of being a pedophile earlier this year. 

This year, libertarian accounts posted a deepfake artificial intelligence video that spread on social media, which falsely depicted PRO leader Mauricio Macri encouraging the public to vote for the LLA candidate in the Buenos Aires City legislative elections.

“Confirmed that journalists can’t stand even a week of their own medicine”, Buenos Aires congressman Agustín Romo wrote on X, a post Milei also republished.

According to posts shared by Milei, the trolls were retaliating against statements Mengolini made in May 2023, before the presidential elections that the libertarian economist won. At the time, Mengolini described Milei, who was a national deputy, as someone who was  “living with eight dogs” and was “in love with his sister,” Karina Milei, the current Secretary General of the Presidency.