In the midst of the economic and social crisis that Argentina is going through, Alejandro Fantino, one of the first and most fervent media defenders of Javier Milei, marked a break in his relationship with the president. In his Neura program, he harshly criticized Milei’s use of the word “effort” to describe the sacrifices that the Government demands of citizens. In an editorial full of emotion, he said: “If Javier gets angry about this, it’s because I was in the wrong boat. Javi, don’t use the word effort anymore. You yourself came to Neura with me, we broke up the political class, you call it ‘caste’. The caste doesn’t make an effort, it doesn’t know what effort is. They go to Banelco and spit out the bill no matter what. Today I feel very bad, I feel terrible in terms of health. I’m congested, my head hurts, I had vomiting in the afternoon. I’ve been like this for several days and I’m here because it’s my job, because I have to be there, because it’s my company and because we’re moving forward.”
The declaration, in a context of overwhelming inflation and growing social unrest, reflected the contrast between the daily sacrifice of the people and a leadership perceived as alien to that reality. Fantino, visibly affected, used his own situation as an example of real effort versus the comfort of “caste.”
The comment marked a turning point in a years-long relationship. Since 2016, when he invited him to Animales Sueltos after a lunch in which Milei dazzled him with an underlined Keynes book, Fantino was key in his rise. In 2023, after the PASO, Milei cried in Neura when thanking him for “seeing” him when others ignored him, and even gave him the handwritten draft of his victory speech. In April 2025 they shared an interview of almost five hours, where the president compared him to Messi and they sang together. In August, after a turbulent financial day, Milei returned to the program to talk about his dream of re-election, with Fantino as a media confidant.
After his editorial, the networks were filled with insults. Libertarian trolls nicknamed him “Fantibio” for his supposed lack of loyalty. “Of course, for Fantino the government’s achievements did not involve any effort,” said one user. “Bye Fanta, you were always lukewarm and now you defend communists,” said another.
The nickname “Fantibio” symbolizes the digital punishment of those who deviate from the official discourse. Sources close to Neura affirm that “Alejandro was always independent: he supports what he considers fair and criticizes what he does not.” In the middle of the pre-electoral stage, his turn exposes a crack within the media framework that used to accompany the ruling party.
