Anti-quarantine Bolsonaro isolates himself politically

BRASILIA: A new meme on Brazilian social networks shows a dinosaur looking at the meteorite that is about to annihilate his kind and complaining, “God dammit, this is going to be bad for the economy!”

The viral image − so to speak − is poking fun at the response to the coronavirus pandemic by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who condemns social distancing measures on the grounds they will wreck the economy.

The far-right leader has compared the new virus to a “little flu,” says it triggered an “overblown” reaction, and rejects measures such as closing businesses and schools.

That flies in the face of the World Health Organisation, his own health ministry and the confinement measures now adopted by nearly half the Earth’s population to slow the spread of the virus.

But the man dubbed the “Tropical Trump” for his in-your-face style has stuck to his guns as the pandemic has taken hold in Brazil, the hardesthit country in Latin America, with 5,717 cases and 201 deaths so far.

On Sunday, rather than stay home, Bolsonaro hit the streets in Brasilia to shake hands, take pictures and chat with supporters, encouraging them to keep the economy going.

“We have to face this virus, but face it like a man, dammit, not a boy. We have to face it with reality. That’s life. We’re all going to die someday,” he said. “We have to take precautions with the elderly, with people who are at high risk. But protecting jobs is essential.”

Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all removed videos Bolsonaro posted that day, saying the content violated their policies on spreading misinformation that could harm people.

Bolsonaro took his rhetoric down a notch in a national address on Tuesday night, calling the new coronavirus “the greatest challenge of our generation” and acknowledging the importance of preventive measures, in a concession to his critics.

However, he also repeated his message on the economy and insisted that “the collateral effects of fighting coronavirus shouldn’t be worse than the disease itself.” Bolsonaro is increasingly isolated in his anti-isolation views.