The U.S. president wants everyone to leave the Brazilian far-right politician alone.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump defended former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right politician currently facing prosecution by the Brazilian justice system for multiple crimes, including his role in a 2023 attempted coup d’etat.

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“Brazil is doing a terrible thing on their treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro. I have watched, as has the world, as they have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year! He is not guilty of anything, except having fought for the people,” Trump said.

“I have gotten to know Jair Bolsonaro, and he was a strong leader who truly loved his country — also, a very tough negotiator on trade. His election was very close, and now he is leading in the polls. This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a political opponent — something I know much about! It happened to me, times 10, and now our country is the ‘hottest’ in the world!”

“The great people of Brazil will not stand for what they are doing to their former president. I’ll be watching the witch hunt of Jair Bolsonaro, his family, and thousands of his supporters very closely. The only trial that should be happening is a trial by the voters of Brazil — it’s called an election. Leave Bolsonaro alone!,” the U.S. president said.

Bolsonaro has been accused by Brazilian federal prosecutors of conspiring, along with former ministers and high-ranking military officials, to devise several plans to prevent President Lula da Silva from taking office following his victory in the October 2022 election.

The failure of these initial plans led the accused to incite the Jan. 8, 2023, assault, during which thousands of far-right activists stormed and vandalized the Presidential Palace, Congress and the Supreme Court in Brasilia, demanding that the armed forces overthrow the newly inaugurated government.

Trump’s comments about Bolsonaro came just hours after he threatened to impose a 10% tariff on countries aligning with what he called the “anti-American policies” of the BRICS bloc.

Over the weekend, during a summit in Rio de Janeiro, BRICS leaders — including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin — expressed serious concerns about the tariff war led by Trump. Currently, BRICS is an intergovernmental organization composed of 10 countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: Truth Social – EFE

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