The similarities to Jan. 6 were apparent. And one of the voices in the U.S. pushing it all said he’s not backing off.
The storming of the presidential palace and trashing of government buildings in the Brazilian capital by thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro sent shockwaves across the hemisphere.
But on Monday morning, one of the main U.S. voices encouraging Bolsonaro supporters to question the results of the country’s presidential election last year declined to tap the brakes.
“I’m not backing off one inch on this thing,” said former Trump adviser Steve Bannon in an interview. Earlier in the day, he repeated his claims of election fraud in Brazil and called on the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who beat Bolsonaro, to open up an investigation.
“Look at the report, the code, the tabulator, the machines and open them up … be transparent, let the citizens of Brazil see,” Bannon said on his “War Room” podcast.
Bannon’s support of the protesters, whom he called “freedom fighters,” has prompted renewed criticism of both him and the larger MAGA movement that has spread election denialism at home and abroad.
The violent outburst in Brasília on Sunday was swiftly compared to Jan. 6, 2021, when a similarly angry crowd rioted at the U.S. Capitol in protest over Donald Trump’s loss and the rioters’ unfounded belief the election was fraudulent. Bolsonaro lost his presidential election by a small margin in a runoff to Lula and never formally conceded.
A later report by the military outlined technical risks to Brazil’s election system but found no sign of vote-rigging. But Bolsonaro’s supporters have continued to demonstrate in the streets over the election.
They have found supportive voices in the U.S. in doing so. For months, Bannon and other far-right commentators have been following the unrest in Brazil and have encouraged the protesters to continue to challenge the results. Bannon said he has remained close to Eduardo Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro’s son. And Conservative political institutions in the U.S. have allied themselves with former president Bolsonaro, as well.
The influential conservative group CPAC has held conferences in Brazil in recent years at which Bolsonaro and his allies have appeared. And in mid-November, Eduardo Bolsonaro attended the America First Policy Institute’s gala. The Trump-inspired think tank held the event at Trump’s Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago club, where the younger Bolsonaro later joined a table on the patio with Trump and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, AFPI chair Linda McMahon, and Trump aides Sergio Gor and Boris Epshteyn.
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Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, one of the main U.S. voices encouraging Bolsonaro supporters to question the results of the country’s presidential election last year, declined to tap the brakes.https://t.co/jI14CnoyV9
— POLITICO (@politico) January 10, 2023
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