(National Harbor) Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro received loud applause on Saturday at the annual high mass of American conservatives, displaying his closeness to Donald Trump and expressing doubts about his defeat against Lula.
Installed in Florida since the end of December, the 67-year-old Brazilian judged that his relationship with the former Republican president was “simply exceptional” on the last day of CPAC, a major political convention organized this week in the suburbs of Washington.
Speaking to a packed house through a translator, he touched on every theme dear to the American right, from transgender rights, to criticism of the COVID-19 vaccine, to the “threat socialist.
Mr Bolsonaro, sometimes dubbed “the Trump of the Tropics”, also questioned his presidential defeat in October. “I had more support in 2022 than in 2018 and I do not understand why the figures say the opposite”, he launched under the cheers of the assembly.
Likewise, Donald Trump, who is due to speak later today, persists in questioning the victory of his Democratic rival Joe Biden in 2020.
The Brazilian, ex-army captain, took refuge in the United States on December 30, just before Lula’s inauguration on December 1er January, refusing as tradition dictates to hand over the presidential sash to his successor.
On January 8, he belatedly and half-heartedly denounced the assault by his supporters on the institutions in Brasilia. Although he denies responsibility, he is being investigated by his country’s Supreme Court to determine his role in the attack.
However, he recently indicated that he wanted to return to his country. “I feel that my mission is not over,” he said on Saturday.
