Change of tone or strategic pause?

In his last post on X, the president decided to ask for «patience» and showed a less confrontational face. Although his war against journalism, Kirchnerism and those who criticize him remains intact.

In political communication there is a principle that is met with notable regularity: Governments change their tune when numbers force them. It is not always a strategic or thoughtful decision. Sometimes it is a reflex response to accumulated pressure. And that seems to be what is happening with the President of the Nation’s X account.

In recent weeks, in the midst of an adverse political context, Milei published a message that is clearly different from its usual style. He acknowledged that not all Argentines are better off, asked for patience and appealed to data to defend his management. «Improvement processes do not advance at the same speed for everyone»wrote. For those who follow presidential communication closely, these phrases represent a rarity.

The numbers that explain the turn

Change does not occur in a vacuum. The latest surveys place the management disapproval above 60%. Inflation has been growing since May 2025 and consulting firms project that this month it will exceed 3% monthly, which would mean closing the year at around 30% annually. Added to this are the transport strike in the AMBA and the allegations of corruption against the spokesperson and chief of staff Manuel Adorni. Increasingly complex topics that occupy the main news portals, social networks and radio and TV programs

When a government simultaneously faces a decline in image, the return of a variable it thought was under control, and scandals involving its own officials, the crisis communication manual indicates that something must give. Generally it’s the tone. Before changing policies, change words.

A repertoire with three fixed targets

To gauge what is different about this message, it is enough to compare it with others published in the same period. And what emerges is a pattern with three permanent recipients: journalism, Kirchnerism and any citizen who dares to dissent.

Against the media, Milei called «human garbage» to a journalist, accused Grupo Clarín of having agreed with Duhalde in 2002 on a bailout at the expense of Argentines, and denounced that 100% of the television outlets lie. Against Kirchnerism, the story is equally constant: everything that goes wrong is the inheritance of the «irresponsible Kirchnerist psychopaths who tried to blow up the economy». Self-responsibility, when it appears, always has another culprit in the background.

But there is a third target that tends to go more unnoticed: the more than six out of ten Argentines who do not approve of his management. Milei does not challenge them — she disqualifies them. He calls them «ignorant», attributes a «spiritual deficit» to them, accuses them of not understanding basic economic concepts or of allowing themselves to be manipulated by the media. In his communication scheme, whoever does not support him does not have a legitimate opinion: he has a problem with understanding or intellectual honesty.

Change of strategy or tactical adjustment?

The most institutional tweet coexists with all that repertoire without replacing it. What it does is qualify it for a moment, recognize that there are people who are still not well, ask for patience, show something resembling empathy. But even in that more moderate message, Kirchnerism continues to be responsible for the hard months and journalism continues to be the enemy that distorts reality.

Governments going through times of pressure often face a dilemma: Abruptly changing tone can be read as weakness, but maintaining it without nuance when one’s own data becomes complicated can deepen the wear and tear.. Milei seems to be testing that limit.