Argentine poll suggests 57% don’t trust President Milei after LIBRA scandal

Nearly 58% of Argentinians said they don’t trust President Javier Milei following his involvement in the $4.6 billion Libra crypto scandal, according to a recent poll. 

“More than a month after the crypto fraud scandal broke out, how much do you trust Milei today?” polling platform Zuban Córdoba asked 1,600 respondents in its recently released March survey, to which 57.6% replied that they disapprove of him, while 36% said Milei still has their trust.

The remaining 6.4% said they weren’t sure, the report stated.

This was the first time the question was asked within a Zuban Córdoba poll. However, several other metrics, such as Milei’s image and the national management approval rating, have plummeted considerably in recent months.

The latter of those metrics, for example, fell from 47.3% in November to 41.6% in March.

“Fifty-eight percent disapprove of Javier Milei’s management. Negativity increases slowly but steadily and seems to find no ceiling,” Zuban Córdoba said. 

“The change in tone and evaluation of the government is consolidating as more and more problematic fronts appear on the political agenda.”

Zuban Córdoba conducted its study between March 12 and March 14, and the sample size of 1,600 participants had a confidence level of 95% and a sampling error of 2.45%.

Another survey from the University of San Andrés conducted between March 11-20 with 1,020 respondents found that Milei’s approval rating dropped to 45%.

However, not all polls paint the same picture of President Milei. 

Data collected from Morning Consult between Feb. 27 and March 5 indicates that Milei still possessed a 62.4% approval rating after the Libra scandal.

Related: LIBRA memecoin orchestrators named as defendants in US class-action suit

Milei has distanced himself from Libra since the scandal, arguing he didn’t “promote” the LIBRA token in a controversial Feb. 14 X post — as fraud lawsuits filed against him allege — and instead merely “spread the word” about it.

The Libra (LIBRA) token soared to a $4.6 billion market cap shortly after Milei’s X post before tanking nearly 94% over the next few hours.

Argentina’s opposition party called for Milei’s impeachment but has had limited success thus far.

President Milei’s party still in lead as election looms

The controversy comes as the next Argentine election is set to take place on Oct. 26.

Despite the negative results, Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party is still most likely to take out the next Argentine election, with 36.7% in favor of the libertarian party, while Unión por la Patria comes in next at 32.5%.

However, only 43% of Argentine respondents believe that Milei — an economist prior to taking office — has sufficiently controlled inflation, while 63% of those polled oppose Milei’s efforts to secure a new loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Magazine: Meet lawyer Max Burwick — ‘The ambulance chaser of crypto’