A Brazilian Far-Right Populist and the Women Who Like Him
In Brazil, there’s a video that just won’t go away. It shows a young male congressman, dressed in a suit and tie, sparring with a female congresswoman as photographers and journalists encircle them. The subject of the argument has been lost over the 15 years since the video was shot. What hasn’t been lost is the man’s words or his actions. “I wouldn’t ever rape you, because you don’t deserve it ... Slut!” he says, before jabbing her in the shoulder and sending her stumbling backwards. Today that man, Jair Bolsonaro, is well on his way to becoming Brazil’s next president.
Ahead of the first round of Brazil’s presidential election this weekend, the latest polls show Bolsonaro, a right-wing congressman from Rio de Janeiro,pulling past his opponent Fernando Haddad, the leftist former mayor of São Paulo. He took the reins of the Workers’ Party (PT) from ex-president and would-be candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who remains jailed on corruption charges in connection with thefar-reaching Operation Car Wash corruption probe. Over the past couple of years, the investigation has snared politicians of all the major parties and business tycoons for alleged shady dealings. The election is slated
