This is why Brazilians have far more to fear from Bolsonaro’s leadership than Americans do from Trump’s.
Here is what I wrote about this Trumpian buffoon in “Covid-19 ‘Power Grabs’ Are Playing Out Just as I Feared … and Warned” on April 27:
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President Bolsonaro of Brazil [is] dismissing the pandemic as ‘just a bit of a cold.’ Never mind that his country has more cases of Covid-19 infections and deaths than any other country in Latin America: more than 45,000 and 2,900, respectively. People in other countries take to the streets at an appointed hour these days to cheer healthcare workers for saving so many lives. People in Brazil do so to jeer the ‘Bolsonaro virus’ for proving more hazardous to their health than the coronavirus.
Incidentally, this reputed ‘Trump of the Tropics’ is so determined to emulate the follies of his namesake, he orchestrated the resignations of his country’s top law enforcement officer (just as Trump did with FBI director James Comey) and justice minister (just as Trump did with attorney general Jeff Sessions).
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Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that, according to the John’s Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, Bolsonaro’s Brazil now has 1,884,967 cases and 72,833 deaths – second only to Trump’s America with 3,364,704 and 135,615, respectively. Tragically, the toll in each case reflects the grave fecklessness of their leadership in the face of this pandemic.
But long-suffering Brazilians might derive a little consolation from this inevitable news:
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has sought repeatedly to minimize the novel coronavirus as he urges his country back to work, said Tuesday he has tested positive for it.
Bolsonaro, an outlier among world leaders in his skepticism of the virus and measures intended to curb it, was tested Monday evening after developing symptoms that included a fever.
(The Washington Post, July 7, 2020)
Of course, the comeuppance this consolation portends will only be consummated if Covid-19 ravages Bolsonaro for weeks in an ICU before sending him to meet his maker. But I doubt the good people of Brazil would wish that even for him …
Meanwhile, in case you’re wondering what happened to the stockpiles of that Covid wonder drug the FDA prevented Trump from peddling here in the USA:
President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has been presenting an image of resilience and vigor as he fights the coronavirus, flashing smiles and thumbs-up, posting on social media — and enthusiastically promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine.
His attitude during convalescence is consistent with his widely-discredited contention that the virus poses little threat to people who are healthy, and his endorsement of the drug, though studies have found no evidence that it works on Covid-19 patients, but have shown possible danger in taking it.
(The New York Times, July 8, 2020)
No doubt you’ve heard of monkey see, monkey do. But Bolsonaro is managing to make a deadly mockery even of that joke.
Related commentaries:
Bolsonaro… Hydroxychloroquine… Covid-19 thread…