Javier Milei, Argentina's president and social media addict
"Inflation is going to collapse!" said Argentine President Javier Milei during an interview with journalist Alejandro Fantino on his "Multiverso Fantino" program on April 8. Live on YouTube, he tracked price trends from a social media account on X. The account, under the name "Jumbot," displays the logo of a famous supermarket chain and presents itself as a "robot" that tracks the prices of basic necessities on the Jumbo supermarket website to report changes.
The tweets show a drop in prices in the first week of April. A result that the far-right president, who believes that the severe austerity policies implemented since he came to power will "put an end to inflation" in a country where it has become chronic, is thrilled to share with his audience.
The issue arose when Jumbot – which turned out to be a fake account – denied the information. "This account is a social experiment. (...) No robot has ever followed Jumbo's prices. But it served a purpose. To expose the need for some to show results that reality denies," explained a message published a few hours later. Indeed, food prices have risen by almost 50% since the start of the year, according to the National Institute of Statistics.
