In Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, thousands of supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gathered on Tuesday to march through the streets, with some carrying signs and banners asking the far-right populist leader to use the military to take over the entire government.
André Meneses, 60, told The Guardian he thinks members of Brazil's Supreme Court and leftist senators are "traitors" for standing in the way of Bolsonaro, and "the right thing to do is put them on the wall and f--ing ... shoot them." Meneses added that if he "was the president I would do that ... and I would sleep very well after their deaths, you know what I mean?"
Polls show Bolsonaro's disapproval rating at an all-time high, with many people critical of his controversial response to COVID-19 — he has spoken out against lockdowns, masks, and vaccines, and more than 580,000 Brazilians have died of the virus since the pandemic started. Based on those numbers, Bolsonaro has little chance of being re-elected in 2022, The Guardian reports, and he has already started trying to sow doubts about the integrity of Brazil's voting system. "I can't participate in a farce like the one sponsored by the head of the electoral court," Bolsonaro said on Tuesday.
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Jean Paul Prates, a Workers' Party senator, said the marches are a "terrible spectacle," an illusion to make it look like Bolsonaro is more popular than he is. "It is truly dangerous that we have reached a point of such fanaticism and radicalism," Prates added. "This is a moment of real apprehension."
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