Milei's biographer was scathing about Espert and demanded that he resign: "If he continues, Peronism will win overwhelmingly and the project will founder."

Amid the scandal and tension within the government following the confirmation of ties between José Luis Espert and businessman Fred Machado , who has been arrested and accused by U.S. authorities of leading a drug trafficking organization, the Libertarian candidate confirmed that he will continue to lead the provincial ticket. But calls for his resignation are growing .

In the last few hours, Milei's biographer, Nicolás Márquez, was scathing with Espert and vehemently demanded that he resign from the candidacy, warning that if he doesn't, the Peronist victory will be "crushing" and would "sink" the government's political project .

"If Espert remains on the ticket, they've already won," he said of the balance of power with Peronism. "It's going to be a scandalous victory. If we change the rules of the game, we can quickly turn the party around. If we continue to participate in this error, the only thing we'll do is make that victory resounding, desperate, and crushing, and the political project will founder," Márquez said in a live broadcast with libertarian followers.

For the libertarian writer, who was once very close to the President, Espert "is a political dead man; not even the poll watcher will vote for him."

In the same vein, he repeated the claim: "This makes him a dead politician. We can't recover 13 points with a dead politician , resign. If you want to cling to your privileges, they'll be taken away from you in two minutes anyway."

For the writer, Espert must have " a patriotic, heroic gesture " and asked him to put his ego aside.

"Disappear from the scene. Do what you have to do, you know, politically you're finished, but it's one thing for you to be finished and another thing for you to politically end the government project that began in 2023; that would be treason," he emphasized.

In continuing to criticize the Libertarian congressman and candidate, Márquez said, " We need to stop messing around, clinging on, and dilute and leave ." He concluded: "That's what we're asking from this very modest place."

Despite the protest, Espert confirmed that he will continue campaigning. He made this known on his social media shortly after leaving the Olivos Residence on Friday night. " I'm not getting anything ," he said on X.

Shortly afterward, and along the same lines, he confronted journalists who were pointing out that the government was "about to be slapped in the face" due to the impact the scandal over his ties to Machado was having on the campaign.

"Stop talking nonsense. Nobody backs down from anything and you are completely wrong about 'the government is there to slap you in the face' . The @JMilei government is transforming Argentina for the good of the Argentinians and will not rest until it achieves this," Espert said on X.

The video Espert recorded, acknowledging that he received $200,000 from Machado for supposed work as an economist that he ultimately didn't perform, and detailing their relationship, failed to quell the complaints, which are being repeated by both the opposition and the ruling party.