Glenn Greenwald, co-founding editor of The Intercept, told Hill.TV’s “Rising” Friday that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s coronavirus diagnosis this week was only a matter of time.
Like President Trump, Bolsonaro has not shied away from public events since the start of the pandemic, and has downplayed the impact of the disease. The U.S. and Brazil have the first and second highest number of infections in the world, respectively.
“He’s been running around Brazil looking for crowds,” Greenwald said. “He’s constantly in crowds with no masks, doing exactly what you would do if either you already had the coronavirus and know you’re immune or you want to get it. That’s what his behavior has been.
Greenwald noted that Bolsonaro has not been in great health in recent weeks, undergoing major surgeries prior to his diagnosis. He compared Bolsonaro’s politics to Trump, saying that they are both interested in pushing rhetoric as part of a so-called “culture war,” rather than on specific policy actions.
Bolsonaro has reportedly chastised people for wearing masks and used homophobic slurs to say wearing a mask is “unmanly.”
“He is really more invested in the culture wars, and the idea of how you look at COVID-19,” Greenwald said. “It’s been very much this bravado that his driven his response and Brazil is a big country, it’s 220 million people with tons of poor people living in great density with no health care.”
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