Bolsonaro sees Trump as a twin in divinity
After the failed assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, Brazil's ex-president Bolsonaro praises Trump in highest tones. It becomes clear that he sees the former US president as his twin in divine providence.
Brazil's far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro compared the attempted assassination on ex-US president Donald Trump to the one attempted against him in 2018. "He was saved, in my opinion, just as I was", Bolsonaro said in a video published on X about Trump. Bolsonaro was stabbed during the 2018 election campaign and had to undergo multiple surgeries afterwards. "The doctors say it was a miracle that I survived in 2018 given the severity of the injuries", Bolsonaro now wrote on X. The attack on Trump was "a matter of centimeters".
"This comes from above", Bolsonaro said with an upward gaze over their survival. The Brazilian ex-president, sometimes referred to as "Trump of the Tropics", is known as a Trump supporter. After the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, Bolsonaro called Trump the "world's greatest political leader at the moment".
Like the US, Brazil has experienced strong political polarization in recent years. A week after the inauguration of the left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in January 2023, Bolsonaro supporters stormed the government buildings in the capital Brasília. They accused Lula of having stolen the presidency and in vain called on the military to overthrow the left-politician.
Fico also sees parallels
The violence reminded of the storming of Trump supporters on the Capitol in Washington in January 2021, after Trump lost the presidential election to the current office holder Joe Biden. An attempt was made to impose an office ban on the 69-year-old Bolsonaro until 2030 because he baselessly questioned the legitimacy of the Brazilian presidential election in 2022.
Trump survived a murder attempt at a campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania on a Saturday (local time) only narrowly. He was shot and slightly injured in the ear. In addition to the alleged shooter, a spectator was killed, and two others were seriously injured.
Also the Slovak prime minister Robert Fico drew parallels between the shootings and an attack on him. The populist politician was shot after a cabinet meeting in a Slovak town on May 15. Fico survived seriously injured and could only resume work a few days ago.
Bolsonaro, drawing similarities to his own survival, stated in a video that Trump was "saved, in my opinion, just as I was" following the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. As a prominent Trump supporter, Bolsonaro continued to laud the former US president, referring to him as the "world's greatest political leader at the moment" after the incident.
