Adorni scandal affecting government’s ‘anti-caste’ messaging

The “anti-caste” messaging President Milei’s administration has pushed since its rise to power is losing strength due to corruption allegations surrounding Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni, a recent survey shows.  According to the poll, almost 80% think that the Adorni scandal is impacting the administration’s case against the so-called “caste” and government corruption, one of Milei’s strongest talking points since coming into office. More than 60% say that the allegations are worsening their image of the government, and almost 70% believe Adorni is guilty.  The report was carried out by the Observatory of Applied Social Psychology (in Spanish, OPSCA) of the University of Buenos Aires.  Adorni is being investigated for illicit enrichment after it was discovered he had purchased properties he failed to include in his assets statements. He has also made large expenditures, such as expensive trips and a full home renovation paid in cash, which may not match his declared income. Milei has given his chief of staff his full support and has claimed in interviews he is “innocent.” The president’s 2023 campaign brought the word “caste” into everyday Argentine parlance, a term he initially used to excoriate career politicians. The “anti-caste” rhetoric later expanded to rail against the “privileges” of politicians and unions, accusing them of lining their own pockets while the rest of the country struggled to get by. An unsettling parallelism The report, based on surveys of 4,711 residents of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (in Spanish, AMBA), shows that there is widespread awareness of the issue: 97% of respondents said they had heard or read about the Adorni case.  Additionally, 66.5% believe that “real and serious” acts of corruption lie behind the allegations. Only 6% agree with the government’s view that the case involves only “minor irregularities that have been overblown by the media and the opposition.” The brief also draws an analogy between the Adorni case and the so-called “picture of Olivos”. The photograph showed former President Alberto Fernández alongside his now-ex-partner, Fabiola Yañez, during a birthday celebration at the presidential residence while the country was under COVID-19 lockdown.  According to the report, both cases “affect key symbolic and moral tenets of the ruling party, create an image of contradiction between rhetoric and behavior, and have a high capacity of going viral.”  What other polls are saying The latest national survey by Zentrix Consultora shows that two out of three respondents believe the government now resembles the very thing it promised to fight. President Javier Milei’s approval ratings are falling in the polls amid corruption scandals. In addition to the $LIBRA and ANDIS cases, there are allegations against Manuel Adorni, a close confidant of the presidential ticket. Approval rating stands at 33.1%, while the president’s image continues to decline. His positive image sits at 35.2%, while negative perception is 59.3%, a 24-point gap.  One of the factors explaining this decline is the perception of corruption. A little over 57% believe there is widespread corruption in the administration, and 66.6% believe the government is not committed to preventing it, according to the Zentrix report. With information from Ámbito