Brazilian far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro speaks to the press during a visit to the Federal Police station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 17, 2018.
CARL DE SOUZA | AFP | fake images
from Brazil Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won a sweeping electoral victory on Sunday, vowing to drain the political swamp and fight corruption in Latin America’s largest country.
In a vote that many considered the most important since the country returned to democracy Three decades ago, the former military man survived a near-fatal stabbing to comfortably beat his left-wing rival Fernando Haddad.
The result is a dramatic departure from the left in Brazil, which, in the last four years, has reeled from a massive criminal investigation – known as “Operation Carwash”. The scandal has led to the jailing of dozens of business and political leaders, including leftist icon and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has been barred from running for public office.
Bolsonaro won 55.2 percent of the runoff election over the weekend, while Haddad received 44.8 percent of voter support.
The 63-year-old populist, nicknamed the “trump of the tropics” by the country’s media, has prospered by claiming to be a clean-living lawmaker determined to jail corrupt lawmakers.
However, Bolsonaro’s critics are deeply concerned by his unabashed praise of the country’s former dictatorship and his comments on women, race and human rights.
Here are some of the future commander-in-chief’s most incendiary comments reported by various media outlets over the years:
about women:
Jair Bolsonaro, far-right lawmaker and Social Liberal Party (PSL) presidential candidate, and his wife Michelle pose as they arrive to cast their ballots in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 28, 2018.
RICARDO MORAS | AFP | fake images
“I wouldn’t rape you because you don’t deserve it.” (2014)
From an exchange with the deputy Maria do Rosario in the Lower House of Brazil. Rosario later argued that her comments had encouraged the sexual assault. In a subsequent interview with a newspaper, Bolsonaro said Rosario “wasn’t worth raping; she’s very ugly.”
“I have five children, but in the fifth I had a moment of weakness and a woman came out.” (2017)
About human rights:
Jair Bolsonaro, far-right lawmaker and Social Liberal Party (PSL) presidential candidate, greets supporters during the second round of the presidential election, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 28, 2018.
CARL DE SOUZA | AFP | fake images
“I’m for torture, you know that. And people are for it too.” (1999)
“Brazilian prisons are wonderful places… They are places for people to pay for their sins, not to live the Reilly life in a spa. Those who rape, kidnap and kill go there to suffer, not attend a camp vacation”. (2014)
In race:
Brazilian right-wing presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro speaks to supporters during a campaign rally in the Ceilandia district.
EVARISTO IN | AFP | fake images
“I visited a quilombo and the lightest Afro-descendant weighed seven arrobas (approximately 230 pounds). They’re useless! They’re not even good for procreation.” (2017)
A quilombo refers to a settlement founded and organized by the descendants of runaway slaves.
About sexual orientation:
Federal deputy Jair Bolsonaro delivers a speech during the national convention of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) where he will be formalized as a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 22, 2018.
Ricardo Moraes | Reuters
“I would be incapable of loving a homosexual son.” (2011)
Bolsonaro added that he would rather his son “die in an accident than show up with a guy with a mustache.”
About immigration:
Jair Bolsonaro, presidential candidate of Brazil’s Social Liberal Party (PSL), speaks during an event organized by the Correio Braziliense newspaper in Brasilia, Brazil, on June 6, 2018.
Andre Coelho | Mayor Bloomberg | fake images
“The scum of the earth is showing up in Brazil, as if we don’t have enough of our own problems to solve.” (2015)
About the elections:
Brazil’s right-wing presidential candidate for the Social Liberal Party (PSL) Jair Bolsonaro walks in front of the Brazilian flag as he prepares to cast his ballot during the general election, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 7, 2018. .
MAURO PIMENTEL | AFP | fake images
“Elections won’t change anything in this country. They will only change the day we start a civil war here and do the job that the military regime didn’t do: kill 30,000. If some innocent people die, that’s okay.” . In every war, innocent people die.”
from a 1999 Interview on Brazilian television.