President Biden has yet to personally congratulate President-elect Javier Milei of Argentina following his enormous electoral victory.
According to Argentina’s electoral authority, Mr. Milei, a firebrand libertarian-conservative, scored a decisive victory Sunday over an establishment candidate in Argentina’s presidential runoff with 55.7% of the 99.7% votes cast to Economic Minister Sergio Massa’s 44.3%.
It is the widest margin of victory in a presidential race since the country returned to democracy in 1983.
Despite the decisive victory achieved by Mr. Milei, Mr. Biden has yet to issue a personal congratulatory statement to the incoming Argentinian president, such as he did for Liberia’s president-elect Joseph Boakai on Monday. Mr. Boakai won his tight race with 51% of the vote against the country’s incumbent president, George Weah, who garnered 49%.
“I congratulate Joseph Boakai on his election to be the next president of Liberia,” Mr. Biden said. “These free and fair elections and presidential runoff demonstrated Liberians’ commitment to making their voices heard through the ballot box, and I look forward to working together to continue deepening the ties between our nations and people in the years ahead.”
The Washington Times asked the White House why Mr. Milei did not receive an immediate direct congratulatory statement from Mr. Biden, but did not receive a comment.
However, the Department of State and the White House national security council did weigh in on Mr. Milei’s election and commended his win.
When a reporter informed Secretary of State spokesman Matthew Miller that Mr. Milei wants to visit the U.S. before his inauguration, Mr. Miller reiterated Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s congratulatory statement to the new Argentinian president.
“We congratulate President-elect Milei on his victory,” Mr. Miller said. “We applaud the robust democratic process through which the Argentine public spoke. And we will look forward to working with the president-elect and his government on shared priorities including human rights and democracy, addressing climate change, and investing in the middle class.”
Mr. Milei’s stances run counter to the Biden administration’s positions on climate change, abortion, sex education in schools and gun control. Mr. Miller refused to comment on Mr. Milei’s conservative social and libertarian policy positions.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan congratulated Mr. Milei on X and praised Argentina “for holding free & fair elections.”
“We look forward to building on our strong bilateral relationship based on our shared commitment to human rights, democratic values, & transparency,” Mr. Sullivan wrote.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Argentina “is a terrific partner in the region.”
“And there’s an awful lot of things we share in terms of values, value of democracy, human rights, and just hemispheric security,” he told reporters.
The White House did find time to send out other statements on behalf of Mr. Biden on Monday. This includes his statement on the ratification of the UAW’s agreements with the big three automakers and a statement from Mr. Biden acknowledging Transgender Day of Remembrance.
— Staff writer Guy Taylor contributed to this report.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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