Fifteen years have passed since he's been gone, yet I am still being associated with it. We must have done something good. I know the connection I had with Ricardo Fort, and I have no reason to keep justifying it. The controversy began when Gallardo posted a photo hugging the media personality Ricardo Fort with a nostalgic message: "These days people have you very present in my life. I trust you will be watching over me." The post sparked a strong reaction in the late businessman's circle. The former model also clarified that her post was not intended for any political purpose: "It seems that if I post a photo, it's because my candidacy is due to Ricardo, as if in all these years I had done nothing." Both her lawyer, César Carroza, and Martita Fort expressed their displeasure and questioned the intention behind the tribute. Facing these statements, Gallardo showed annoyance at what she considered unfair comments. "I heard many silly things and I feel that it is a disqualification towards my person or figure just because. I uploaded a photo and they automatically say that I am using a person. I won the elections with 33 percent." The national deputy for Corrientes spoke on Desayuno Americano and defended her decision to share an image with the media personality a few days before the elections. Gallardo, who was elected national deputy for Corrientes representing La Libertad Avanza, emphasized that her career is not limited to her media past. "I am here after twenty years of work. That is the part that is difficult to understand," she expressed with annoyance. When asked if she would be willing to talk to Martita Fort to clarify the differences, Gallardo replied without hesitation: "I am available, I always have been. When they did it, I attended. Look, they make statements, but no one picks up the phone. People forget, I don't." With a firm tone and without intending to continue feeding the controversy, she closed the interview assuring that she will not refer to the matter again. "That's it, I don't want to answer anything else. He is always with me. I have explained it a thousand times." In the midst of the repercussion that her publication on social networks remembering Ricardo Fort generated, Virginia Gallardo came out to counter the criticisms made by Martita Fort, the businessman's daughter.
