Being a politician in Mexico is like being friends with Diddy — one wrong move and you’re going to (allegedly) end up in a burned-out car.
Recently, Mexico announced that it would be electing a new president to replace the wildly popular current leader, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also known as AMLO.
The most striking points of data on #AMLO's presidency is the fact that more than 5 million people were lifted out of poverty & wages rose 35% despite overall low GDP growth–2%/year. Never seen anything like this. Full article, free to read @compactmag_ https://t.co/q8uRlq5eGT pic.twitter.com/jINifK5s2d
— Juan David Rojas (@rojasrjuand) June 3, 2024
This happened during a contentious nationwide election in which 37 people were assassinated — which Sky News helpfully reminds us is just “one more than during the 2021 midterm election.”
Mexico's election has become its bloodiest in modern history after the number of assassinated candidates reached 37 before today's votehttps://t.co/fuIKtRfJbg
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 2, 2024
Despite these assassinations during lower level elections, the presidential run went off (largely) without any major issues.
The new Mexican President, former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, is a first for the country in many ways. To start, she’s a woman; second, she’s Jewish, though NBC News notes that she says she “isn’t religious and describes her Jewish heritage in cultural terms.”
Unfortunately for Sheinbaum, the announcement of her presidency has, through no fault of her own, already put her on a rough path.
First, a former Mexican president has already accused her of rigging her election, a claim that isn’t substantiated by, well, anything, it seems.
Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, had a Twitter meltdown due to Claudia Sheinbaum's electoral victory.
— Crazy Ass Moments in LatAm Politics (@AssLatam) June 4, 2024
Fox tweets (all in capslock) that Sheinbaum is starting a Dictatorship by electoral fraud since she would "never win a landslide victory above all other elections". pic.twitter.com/oDsfmJ87Ey
Next, a bunch of people with no familiarity with Mexican political history took it upon themselves to share their thoughts on her election, getting some very basic details wrong in the process.
This is very funny insofar as they had unipolar leadership until the 21st century.
— grimm (@ExileGrimm) June 3, 2024
There was a single party that held the presidency until Fox lol. https://t.co/2eABUs3Uor pic.twitter.com/EErkGnYirM
Finally, some accused Sheinbaum of not *really* being Jewish — not because she says she isn’t religious, but because she thanked Jesus during her acceptance speech. The problem? Jesus is the name of her husband. Pop over to Mexico, and you’ll find that it’s a really, really common name.
The co-chair of @DemMaj4Israel tried to smear the incoming Mexican president by implying she isn't Jewish enough. He said she even "thanked Jesus for her victory." There was just one catch. pic.twitter.com/I94iAjyuCW
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) June 3, 2024
Personally, I wish all the best for Sheinbaum — let’s hope to increase wages, improve social infrastructure and get that assassination number below 30 by the time of her next election!
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