Here's the Line From Javier Milei's Address to Argentina's Congress That Brought Down the House

Argentinian President Javier Milei addressed his nation’s congress, and it was rather Trumpian. There were fireworks, which is what you’d expect from a man who called progressives “s**t leftists” and campaigned with chainsaws on the stump. He’s also revived the nation’s economy, is getting inflation under control, and produced a full first-year budget surplus for the first time in over 10 years.

His speech spoke about lowering taxes and reforming the electoral system, but, like in our Congress, the Left wouldn’t clap. Milei took a page out of Trump’s book: he ripped into them incessantly. The line that caused bedlam in the chamber was when he said, “The left can't applaud me because their hands are in other people's pockets.”

Milei just dropped an epic line 🤣

“The left can't applaud me because their hands are in other people's pockets!”

🎯🎯🎯pic.twitter.com/ZLAsg8iors
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 3, 2026

Damn.

🚨 HOLY CRAP! Argentina's right-wing President Javier Milei just WENT NUCLEAR right to the faces of leftist members of Parliament

"You were handing yourselves over to VENEZUELA and to the terrorists from IRAN who planted two BOMBS on us!"

NO BS! 🇺🇸🇦🇷pic.twitter.com/MhFQjChYxH
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 3, 2026

More from the Buenos Aires Times:

Before galleries packed with enthusiastic supporters – who cheered, clapped and chanted every attack line – Milei repeatedly insulted his rivals, branding them “ignorant” and “criminals” and "parasites" who had led the nation into disaster.
The head of state attempted to recount his achievements in office and gave a hint of what was to come. But he was unable to stop himself from reacting to the cries of the opposition, with Congress descending into farcical scenes.
While far from an outline of Argentina’s past, present and future, it was most certainly a spectacle.
Prior to his arrival at Congress, the Legislative Assembly was calm. But the moment Milei stepped onto a raised platform to access the lectern, it all kicked off.
The heckles from the opposition – some of whom boycotted the event and did not even turn up – were not long in coming. Milei immediately reacted, saying he was “your President … whether you like it or not.”
[…]
When Peronist lawmakers reproached him for having ignored “social justice,” Milei exploded and shouted back that Peronism has its own leader in prison.
“Bunch of criminal thieves – that’s why yours is behind bars,” he roared, referring to ex-president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
[…]
On several occasions, opposition lawmakers questioned the accuracy of the figures Milei cited regarding the performance of the economy.
“You’re allergic to data,” he fired back, telling his rivals to “go and read the numbers and the balance sheets.”