Brazil’s ‘Trump of the Tropics’ launches his presidential bid
JAIR BOLSONARO, Brazil’s far-right presidential hopeful, officially kicked off his campaign on Sunday – excoriating the political centre but softening his incendiary stance on the LGBT community and racial minorities – three months before wide-open October elections.
The 63-year-old former army captain, who leads in polls that exclude Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the jailed former Leftist president, made his announcement a day after centrist parties threw their support behind Geraldo Alckmin.
“Once again, thank you Geraldo Alckmin for uniting the scum of Brazilian politics,” said Bolsonaro – dubbed “Trump of the Tropics” – referencing the four-time governor of São Paulo, candidate for the Brazilian Social Democracy Party. Some 3,000 supporters, including a Trump impersonator, gathered in Rio de Janeiro to welcome his candidacy, chanting Bolsonaro slogans and making pistol gestures with their hands.
Bolsonaro’s anti-corruption message and vows to loosen gun controls to fight crime resonate deeply in the city, where a crime wave has prompted the federal government to intervene in the state’s security. A corruption scandal at Petrobras that has saddled the statecontrolled oil giant with billions in debt has also weighed on the city.
Leaders of the centrist parties backing Alckmin are under investigation for payments in the sprawling Petrobras bribes and kickbacks scandal.
Despite his popularity, Bolsonaro only has the backing of a small fringe party, so is allowed only 10 seconds of free television time, a serious handicap in a nation where TV ads have a big impact. “We don’t have TV time. But we have what the others don’t have, which is you, the Brazilian people,” he said.