Unfortunately, President Jair Bolsonaro seems hell-bent on living up to his reputation as the “Trump of the Tropics.”
Polls have consistently shown former president Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva handily defeating him today – by double digits. Yet Bolsonaro has spent the last few weeks whipping his supporters into a frenzy with Trumpian lies about election fraud, insisting that the only way he can lose is if “they steal it from us.”
What will the military do…?
It is notable that Brazil’s democratic institutions and military have all telegraphed their intent to enforce the election results. Indeed, a blessing in disguise is that, unlike America’s, Brazil’s police and military will have no compunction about thoroughly squashing insurrectionists with dispatch.
So Bolsonaro can huff and puff all he wants, but I don’t think Brazilians are going to even attempt to tear their capital down based on his lies.