Manuel Adorni on the controversial interruption of Milei during the interview: "A mistake was made"

Argentina’s President Javier Milei is facing a wave of controversy after his post on X promoting the memecoin $LIBRA, a cryptocurrency that lost its value just hours later, causing losses for Argentine investors.

“If you go to a casino and lose money, what’s your complaint if you knew the risks?” he said in an interview with local channel Todo Noticias. “I didn’t promote it; I shared it. That’s not the same thing.”

PUEDES VER: Argentina: Milei accused of fraud and money laundering after $LIBRA memecoin collapse – What happened?

At the end of the interview, journalist Jonatan Viale asked the president about the judicial strategy the Executive Branch would adopt in the case led by federal judge María Servini.

Although Milei stated in the broadcast that the controversy was a “private matter” and that he would not be involved in legal proceedings, journalist and political analyst Ari Lijalad leaked an unedited version on X, in which the president said he would delegate the legal matter to his Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona.

PUEDES VER: Tokens, shitcoins, and memecoins: the $LIBRA case and why Bitcoin doesn’t have these problems

“He is the Minister of Justice, he’s the one who understands these matters,” the head of state said.

“But this is an issue in which you were personally involved,” Viale insisted repeatedly until he was interrupted by presidential advisor Santiago Caputo, sparking controversy.

$LIBRA case: prearranged questions?

In the two-minute clip that went viral on social media, the interview between Milei and Viale begins with what could be interpreted as jokes about whether the questions were prearranged.

“Yes. These were written by Adorni (Manuel Adorni, the presidential spokesperson), these by Karina Milei (the president’s sister and chief advisor), and these by Caputo (Santiago Caputo, the president’s closest advisor),” Viale said.

From that point on, the conversation became more serious. Viale asked about the potential legal consequences of the scandal, to which Milei responded, “Legal matters are not my expertise. It would be imprudent for me to make assumptions. The one who understands this best is our Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona.”

“This is an issue in which you were involved as a citizen, not just as president, that’s why I’m asking,” the journalist replied.

“It’s good that you point out ‘as a citizen’ because I tweeted from my personal account,” Milei responded.

“Yes, but you’ve already realized that it doesn’t work that way—you are the president,” Viale remarked.

Milei attempted to defend himself, arguing that he used his personal X account, where he identifies only as an economist, implying that he was not speaking as Argentina’s president.

At that moment, the interview was interrupted by Caputo, who approached and whispered something into Milei’s ear, though it was inaudible.

“Yes, I realize this could cause a legal mess for you,” the journalist concluded, having to rephrase his question.

Manuel Adorni: “A mistake was made”

“I was present at the interview,” Manuel Adorni, the presidential spokesperson, explained regarding what happened. In an interview with journalist Antonio Laje on A24, Adorni clarified that, from his and the president’s perspective, Santiago Caputo’s interruption was a precautionary decision.

“In my opinion, and in the president’s, Santiago Caputo interrupted the interview because there was nothing wrong. In fact, Caputo has what could be considered a flaw, so to speak, which is his pursuit of excellence. He noticed that something could cause confusion among part of the audience and decided to intervene,” Adorni explained.

He added that, after the interview ended, the president told him: “Santiago, that was unnecessary.” He also noted that Caputo is usually not present during interviews, so he might not have been aware that the dynamic is to never interrupt an interview under any circumstances.

According to Adorni, the clip was taken out of context, although he acknowledged that a mistake was made due to a legal technicality, which the president is not expected to know.

Finally, he asserted that everyone knows the president never suggests a single question or topic and simply sits, listens, and responds. “I repeat, everyone who has interviewed the president knows that he would never, never, never allow a single scripted, dictated, or prearranged question,” he emphasized.