Taylor Swift, BTS fans in Argentina slam right-wing candidate Javier Milei
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Taylor Swift's fans in Argentina say presidential candidate Javier Milei represents "danger" for the country.
PHOTO: AFP
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Fans of US pop star Taylor Swift and Korean band BTS have waded into the Argentinian presidential campaign, expressing displeasure with candidate Javier Milei.
The far-right libertarian is competing against centrist Economy Minister Sergio Massa in a run-off vote. They were the top two candidates in the first round on Oct 23
The two camps are now fighting to woo voters ahead of the second round on Nov 19.
But Swift and BTS fans in Argentina have opened up a new front on the election battlefield, according to Argentinian media reports.
A group of Swift’s fans say they are against Mr Milei due to “the danger he represents” for the country.
They have described him and his Freedom Advances party as “the anti-democratic right”. Some have also likened him to former US president Donald Trump.
“As Taylor says, we have to be on the right side of history,” the group posted under the account Swifties Against Freedom Advances or SwiftiesContraLLA on X. “LLA” refers to Mr Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza.
The account was created in October and has 3,600 followers so far, according to a report in Buenos Aires Times.
The group said they reject Mr Milei’s positions on a range of issues, including sexual diversity and abortion.
The group has also criticised him and his running mate, Ms Victoria Villaruel, for questioning the extent of human rights violations during the country’s period of dictatorial rule between 1976 and 1983.
Ms Villaruel has meanwhile come under fire from the country’s BTS fans for remarks about the band that they said were xenophobic.
In some recently discovered tweets from 2020, Ms Villaruel suggested the name BTS sounded like “a sexually transmitted disease”.
“We repudiate the statements of hatred and xenophobia towards the image of BTS uttered by candidate Victoria Villarruel,” the BTS in Argentina account posted on X.
Taylor Swift and BTS have a considerable fan following in Argentina.
Swift will be performing three shows in Buenos Aires in November as part of her global The Eras Tour
In recent years, Swift’s fans, known as Swifties, have been known for their criticism of Trump after the pop star spoke against him.
BTS is a seven-member South Korean band that is a worldwide phenomenon. According to The Guardian, it is one of the few groups since the Beatles to place four No. 1 albums in the US in less than two years.
Their fans, known as the BTS Army, have also become a political force. This is in part due to the band’s engagement in social justice causes, which their fans take the lead from.
In Argentina, Mr Jorge Rial, who is one of the country’s biggest TV presenters, said the criticism against Mr Milei’s political positions is a “mortal blow”
“You’ve just made the biggest mistake in your life, you messed with Taylor Swift fans,” he said.
Argentinian politician Mr Juan Grabois also responded with a warning.
“You mess with BTS, you mess with me,” Mr Grabois posted on X.
