Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, is the Brazilian equivalent of former President Trump, a right wing populist who seemingly could say anything and advocate for any cause, no matter how retrograde, because of his popularity with the people who’ve, in the Brazilian case, watched other leaders corruptly take advantage of their positions.
But, as with Trump, Bolsonaro’s weakness may turn out to be the pandemic:
In recent weeks, large protests — some in favor of Bolsonaro, others opposing him — have traded off. Dozens of lawmakers last week filed what they call a “super-request” for Bolsonaro’s impeachment, combining more than 100 impeachment requests already filed against him. The president’s approval rating has cratered into the 20s. Some political analysts think it could go even lower.
“The problem has begun,” said Matias Spektor, an associate professor of international relations at Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo. “If this spins out of control, this could be big, big trouble for Bolsonaro.” [WaPo]
[Bold mine.]
If Bolsonaro is eventually ejected from his position, either through impeachment or resignation, or even just making a run for it, there will be an element of embarrassment for the United States. Twice, we had the gumption to put Trump in a position to be removed, and twice we failed. This inability to remove the obviously corrupt narcissistic Trump speaks to our basic political incompetence and inability to make judgments based on reality.
If the Brazilians do, in fact, find Bolsonaro guilty of corruption and remove him, I’ll applaud, but privately wonder if they will ever be able to select someone with good judgment and incorruptibility for the position.
And how much longer we’ll be able to do so.
