President Javier Milei reignited a canine controversy on Sunday night as he made a surprise appearance on a charity livestream event with one of his famous dogs.<\/p>\n
Milei, 54, and his sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, arrived at the offices of Neura Media in Buenos Aires with a dog he said was named Conan, one of the five English mastiffs that were the subject of speculation and controversy in the press during the early months of his Presidency.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see? He\u2019s real,\u201d said the President during an interview with El Troncal de las Mascotas<\/em>, a pet-themed show that encourages donations for animal rescue shelters.<\/p>\n It was Milei’s first public appearance with one of his dogs since taking office in December 2023.<\/p>\n The President\u00a0called the pooch his \u00abson.\u00bb<\/p>\n Milei made his\u00a0surprise appearance at Neura\u2019s studio, located in the Palermo neighbourhood, wearing overalls bearing the logo of YPF, the state energy firm.\u00a0<\/p>\n He introduced Conan as \u201cone of my five four-legged children\u201d before holding court in a lengthy interview that touched on journalists, politics and a host of the President’s complaints.\u00a0<\/p>\n Karina Milei, meanwhile, brought along Thor, the dog she cares for that is often at the Casa Rosada.<\/p>\n The President said another of his dogs, Milton, did not want to attend.<\/p>\n The Milei siblings were also accompanied by La Libertad Avanza national deputy Lilia Lemoine, who also wore YPF overalls.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Public appearance<\/strong><\/p>\n The event marked the first time one of Milei\u2019s dogs had been seen in public since his inauguration.<\/p>\n Conan was on a lead during the livestream. \u201cThey\u2019re sweet, but very territorial,\u201d Milei explained, before clarifying: \u201cNot with humans, but with other dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n The number of pets kept by the President has been a hot topic for local media outlets since the beginning of the 2023 election campaign. The controversy grew in April 2024 when a journalist asked the presidential spokesperson for the exact number of dogs the La Libertad Avanza leader owns.<\/p>\n Spokesperson Manuel Adorni replied at the time: \u201cIf the President says there are five dogs, then there are five dogs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On other occasions, he refused to answer journalists\u2019 questions on the topic, arguing it formed part of the head of state\u2019s private life.<\/p>\n Three months later, the government moved to limit access to public information concerning the \u201cprivate life\u201d of the President \u2013 including any data relating to his dogs.<\/p>\n The controversy stems from El Loco<\/em>, an unauthorised biography of Milei published in 2023 by journalist Juan Luis Gonz\u00e1lez, which claimed the President maintained contact with Conan \u2013 who is said to have died in 2017 \u2013 through a medium.\u00a0<\/p>\n Additional reporting claimed Milei believes Conan accompanies him even today and that this connection marked the beginning of what he describes as a spiritual dialogue with God himself.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Conan\u2019s clones<\/strong><\/p>\n According to reporting by Gonz\u00e1lez and other journalists, Milei reportedly paid US$50,000 to the US firm PerPETuate Inc to clone Conan, using preserved tissue samples and advanced biotechnology techniques.<\/p>\n That procedure produced five or six puppies, although Milei has usually referred publicly to just four: Milton (Friedman), Murray (Rothbard), Robert, and Lucas (both referring to Robert Lucas Jr.). A sixth, Angelito, reportedly died shortly after birth.<\/p>\n Employees at PerPETuate have previously confirmed that Milei contacted them in 2014 to start DNA collection for his dog Conan. Milei advanced to cloning in 2017.<\/p>\n In Sunday night\u2019s livestream event, however, Milei described Conan as the father of the other four dogs, a detail that contrasts with earlier reports about cloning.\u00a0<\/p>\n Milei has previously said he considers all five mastiffs to be his \u201cfour-legged children\u201d and referred to them as the grandchildren of the original Conan.\u00a0<\/p>\n He has said each of the dogs plays a specific advisory role in his life \u2013 with Milton focusing on political analysis, Murray on economics, Robert on forecasting future trends, and Conan serving as an overall guide.<\/p>\n \u201cLet them say what they want about my four-legged little children,\u201d Milei said previously in response to speculation about his pets.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Interview attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n Milei used the relaxed format of the interview to pepper his speech with a number of campaign-style slogans, telling viewers: \u201cI want to make Argentina great, and we\u2019re running the best government in history.\u201d He also said: \u201cWe\u2019re up against a bunch of bastards who can\u2019t accept that things are going well \u2013 because they need the country to fail in order to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n The President also used the interview to renew his attacks on journalists. Commenting on one of his recent cryptic posts on the social media platform X, he revealed the message he wrote \u2013 \u201cNOLSALP PN\u00b010(E) Fin\u201d \u2013 referred to the tenth plague of Egypt, a biblical reference to divine punishment.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said the message reflected the idea that \u201cevil returns to those who invoke it: their own words sealed their downfall.\u201d<\/p>\n The phrase \u201cNOLSALP\u201d is a new slogan often repeated by Milei in public and private: \u201cNo odiamos lo suficiente a los periodistas\u201d (\u201cWe don\u2019t hate journalists enough\u201d).<\/p>\n For much of the interview, the head of state accused the local media of being dishonest and corrupt, and branded several journalists \u201chuman trash\u201d for \u2013 in his view \u2013 spreading lies about him and his government without ever apologising.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a common theme for Milei, who regularly launches attacks on individual journalists and celebrities who criticised his government.\u00a0<\/p>\n Milei took part in 56 attacks on the press in 2024, according to an annual report by the Foro de Periodismo Argentino (FOPEA), which recorded 179 incidents in total.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018That thing\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The livestream almost gave rise to another controversy when the show\u2019s presenter Sergio Figliuolo \u2013 nickname \u00abTronco\u00bb \u2013 referred to the President\u2019s dog as \u201cthat thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Milei immediately interrupted to clarify that the dog was Conan and the moment sparked a tense exchange on air and revived debate on social media about the President’s circle and their boundaries.<\/p>\n Karina Milei responded by recounting a previous incident during the campaign, suggesting that a member of staff had been fired for talking about the pooch in a similar way<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone came up to me and said, \u2018Where do you want to put that thing?\u2019 I told him, \u2018You\u2019re out of this meeting and you don\u2019t work with me anymore.\u2019 Not only did we remove him from the meeting, we dismissed him. He never came back,\u201d said the presidential chief-of-staff.<\/p>\n Tronco attempted to apologise, claiming he had meant to say \u201ca beautiful thing\u201d but had not expressed it clearly.\u00a0<\/p>\n He added, somewhat nervously: \u201cDon\u2019t make me feel afraid. I\u2019ve felt the fear and the chill of \u2018The Boss;\u201d referring to Karina\u2019s nickname and reputation for control.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 TIMES\/AFP\/NA\/PERFIL<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nrelated news<\/h6>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n