Ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who holds former US president Donald Trump as his political idol, boasts he was “the last president in the world to recognise” Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020.
(AFP)
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has gained a number of standing ovations from US conservatives as he provided a glowing endorsement of his ally Donald Trump, and sowed doubt over his personal election defeat and attacked Covid vaccine mandates.
Speaking earlier than one of many largest crowds up to now on the four-day Conservative Political Action Conference [CPAC] in suburban Washington on Saturday, the right-wing populist described his relationship with the previous US president as “simply exceptional.”
“We can see here in America a migration of people going from Democrat states to Republican states. They’re looking for a better life,” he stated.
The 67-year-old Bolsonaro — successfully a warm-up act for Trump’s keynote tackle on the conference afterward Saturday — touched on most of the favorite speaking factors of the US proper wing.
Dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics” for his brash method and disdain of the media, Bolsonaro has additionally echoed his US ally in repeatedly casting doubt on his October election defeat to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“I had way more support in 2022 than I had in 2018, and I don’t understand why the numbers said the opposite,” he informed the CPAC crowd, who booed in solidarity.
On the pandemic, he stated he had “always defended freedom [and] did not force anyone to be vaccinated in Brazil,” successful bigger applause than any of the mainstream US conservatives who’ve addressed the four-day convention.
Bolsonaro repeatedly insults journalists and assaults the minorities, Indigenous individuals, environmental and human-rights activists, lecturers and the cultural elite.
Low profile in US
He has been within the United States since flying to Florida in late December fairly than attend Lula’s January 1 inauguration and has made repeated baseless allegations in regards to the integrity of the election.
Pro-Bolsonaro rioters swarmed Brasilia days later, vandalising the presidential palace and different establishments, drawing parallels to the 2021 assault on the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
The defeated Brazilian chief is beneath investigation over alleged hyperlinks to the January 8 unrest. He denies wrongdoing, though Lula has stated he’s “certain” of his predecessor’s involvement.
Bolsonaro stored a low profile throughout his first weeks in Florida — however has since made a number of public appearances, and in January utilized for a six-month visa to remain within the United States.
He vowed in mid-February, nonetheless, to return to Brazil “in the coming weeks.”
The Brazilian isn’t identified to have met Trump since heading to Florida, however he’s anticipated to satisfy his political soulmate on Saturday because the Republican bids for a second White House time period in 2024.
“In this moment I thank God for my second life and also for the mission of being president of Brazil for one term,” stated Bolsonaro, who was talking by way of an interpreter.
“I feel deep inside that this mission is not over.”
Bolsonaro additionally stated he wouldn’t have allowed two Iranian warships to dock in Rio de Janeiro this week, which Lula’s authorities accepted final month regardless of stress from the US to disclaim them entry.
Source: AFP
Source: www.trtworld.com
