Milei's campaign and eventual victory in particular were subject to intense scrutiny and analysis both nationally and internationally,[nb 1] as he was variously described as a far-right populist, right-wing libertarian, ultraconservative, and political outsider by major news outlets across the globe, and compared to both Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, among others.

Amidst an economic backdrop of rising interest rates and volatility, Milei's ascent in Argentine politics was seen as a reaction to the frustrations with both Peronist and non-Peronist governments.

His radical proposals, including the free sale of firearms and human organs and the repeal of Argentina's abortion law, sparked widespread controversy and debate.

[10] As a national deputy, in line with his opposition to the state, Milei had several absences and did not present any projects, was not a member of any of the 46 commissions of the lower house, and participated little in the debates that took place.

[68] During the campaign for the 2023 Argentine primary elections, Milei generated controversy after he suggested that he would allow the free sale of firearms and human organs, as well as criticism for his comments deemed to be mysoginistic.

Analysts described a win for Milei as a more dramatic version of the pro-business government of former president Mauricio Macri, who tried to introduce market reforms after taking office in 2015 only to clash to the political opposition and plunge headlong into a financial crisis that ended with the country asking the International Monetary Fund for another rescue package.

Alberto Fernández, Macri's successor, has struggled to fix the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina and a severe shortage of foreign currency, leaving the country vulnerable to another debt default.

[36] Analysts had observed that a better-than-expected showing for Milei in the primaries would have likely upset financial markets and lead to a sharp plunge for the Argentine peso's amid uncertainty about the economic policies he might implement if elected president.

[80] During the electoral campaign, his critics often pointed to Milei's controversial pronouncements, which have been described as being part of an outlandish and bizarre behavior, to argue about his incompetency to rule.

[83][84] In June 2023, the markets welcomed Massa's presidential candidacy, as it polarized the election between the ruling party and Juntos por el Cambio, reducing what was called the "Milei factor".

[66] According to Clarín, "Milei's victory speaks to us above all of the extent of despondency and anger that hovers in Argentine society, which wanted to express this profound unease with the primary vote.

According to the Eurasia Group analyst and Latin American researcher Luciano Sigalov, if Milei were to win the presidency, he would face governability issues due to a lack of parliamentary majority to pass the radical pro-market reforms he advocates, and may result in street resistance and protest from Peronist and social movements.

[99] A week before the second round, a group of former presidents from Latin America and Nobel Literature Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa expressed their support for Milei; the support letter was signed by former presidents or prime ministers Felipe Calderón (Mexico), Iván Duque (Colombia), Mariano Rajoy (Spain), Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia), Sebastián Piñera (Chile), Vicente Fox (Mexico), Andrés Pastrana (Colombia), as well as by Luis Fortuño, who is a former governor of Puerto Rico.

[111] Milei's win marked an end to Argentine's political system that saw an hegemony between Peronism, which dominated the country since the 1940s in both left-wing and right-wing incarnations, and its main conservative opposition.

"[75] Milei's win was placed within the contest of an outsider with radical views trying to fix an Argentine economy, which is South America's second largest economy, that has been battered by triple-digit inflation, a looming recession, and rising poverty;[114] Milei's challenges includes government coffers that are in the red, a $44 billion debt programme with the International Monetary Fund, and inflation at 150 percent at the time of his election but predicted to further rise to 200%.

[117] William Jackson, Chief Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics, wrote: "We suspect that some of his more radical proposals – namely dollarization – may not materialize given limited support both in congress and among the public.

"[118] Filipe Campante, an expert in Latin American politics at Johns Hopkins University, commented: "I think his election reflects a disastrous government that was nevertheless strong enough, due to the deep roots of Peronism, to reach the runoff, and thus allow an outsider such as Milei to become the one standard bearer for the entirely justifiable desire for change."

"[134] Milei supports privatizing state-owned enterprises,[138] including shale driller YPF, public services like health care and education,[66] and roads,[139] and pledged to scrap soy taxes and ditch electric-vehicle battery bid as part of his deregulation program.

"[143] He is opposed to trade unions, and described the Article 14 of the Argentine Constitution, which guarantees labor rights, pensions, and the entire social security system, as the country's cancer; he pledged to repeal it as president.

In a July 2023 interview with the Financial Times about this, Milei said that if is elected president of Argentina, he would "overshoot all the targets" in the IMF deal, calling the required spending cuts as small compared with what he says the country needs.

He concluded that this was a debate about values, where socialism embodies envy, resentment, and coercion, while capitalism or liberalism stands for the unrestricted respect for the life project of fellow individuals.

[17] As a result, he argued that "paleolibertarian (conservative libertarian)" or "anarcho-capitalist", namely someone who believes in a form of stateless free-market capitalism, or that society can be organized and function only with the market without the need for the state, are more appropriate labels to describe Milei's politics.

He also defined taxes as "a hindrance of slavery", affirmed that only liberalism would be able to free Argentines from what he describes as the oppression of the state, compared this to the end of absolutism in European history, and reduced the basic rights to those of "Life, liberty, and property".

According to Sonia Corrêa, co-coordinator of Sexuality and Policy Watch, these bills are not rooted in an ideological belief but are an effort to "lure the constituency of [far-right politician] Javier Milei".

[197] In addition to that, he honored Juan Bautista Alberdi,[198] and the Argentine historic presidencies era [es] of Bartolomé Mitre, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, and Nicolás Avellaneda.

[199] For their government efforts as part of the Conservative Republic [es], he also praised the Generation of '80, including Justo José de Urquiza, Julio Argentino Roca, and Carlos Pellegrini.

[131] Milei criticized the judiciary for allegedly persecuting opponents and favoring friends, and his proposed judicial reform include the appointment of a supreme court judge who is says would be "a feral defender" of the ideas of Alberdi.

[215] He signed the document alongside other far-right politicians across the region, including Eduardo Bolsonaro from Brazil, Rafael López Aliaga from Peru, and José Antonio Kast from Chile.

[218][219] At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Milei entered the Palace of the Argentine National Congress with a Ukrainian flag, showing his position towards the conflict.

"[17] Milei praised Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister of the United Kingdom at the time of the Falklands War, as one of "the great leaders in the history of humanity" and described her as his idol in a November 2023 debate with Massa.