Analysts point to Bolsonaros’ usury among evangelicals

The prolonged stay in the USA, the coup of January 8 and, more recently, the affair of the jewels in Saudi Arabia have conditioned the mobilization of the former president and former first lady on social media, more evident among the evangelical public, who voted heavily for the former president in 2018, when elected, and in 2022, when he lost the race against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, according to specialists who monitor social networks.

There were already signs of a gradual erosion of Bolsonaro’s figure since January 8, 2023, when the headquarters of the Three Powers in Brasilia was overrun, accentuated by the former president’s decision to stay out of Brazil since December 30, 2022.

Now, with the episode of the jewels that he and Michelle received as a gift from the Saudi Arabian government and did not declare to the Revenue Agency upon entering Brazil, the disapproval among the more religious voters has become more evident.

According to Magali Cunha, a researcher at the Institute of Religious Studies (ISER) and general editor of Coletivo Bereia, which monitors the facts published on religious media and Brazilian social media with content on religions, a certain silence was visible on the networks. in relation to the case of jewels.

“Through our monitoring of Christian media, silence and reserved support [do público evangélico e católico] has one meaning: the image is smeared. It’s not easy to make this defense [sobre a aquisição das joias] as in other situations,” says the specialist, who is also a member of the International Association in Media, Religion and Culture.

The Coletivo Bereia noted that there were “many likes, but few shares” of the speech put together by Michelle and Jair Bolsonaro to defend themselves in the jewelry case. According to monitoring specialists, it means little commitment and little willingness to defend the couple.

“The assessment is that there is a certain exhaustion of the figure of Bolsonaro and his family. Audiences in churches experienced great stress with the polarizing and hateful speeches of right-wing leaders. January 8 was something of a climax The fact that Jair Bolsonaro is out of Brazil and the couple’s apparent separation have taken the light out of their leadership, together with the scandals of the destruction of the Alvorada Palace and now the jewels, which makes support drop a lot,” says Cunha .

Michael reacts

As for the speculation surrounding Michelle and Bolsonaro’s split, the former first lady has decided to return to the United States and has been posting about married life in the past week and appeared alongside her husband at an event in Orlando, Florida. Wednesday 15 /03), to avert rumors of parting.

In addition to posting that she would see her love, Michelle said she was “asking God” to bring Bolsonaro “soon to the nation he loves so much, to the nation where he fought so hard and will continue to fight” The former president, who had said he would return to Brazil shortly after Carnival, said he will consider returning at the end of March.

The scratch on Michelle’s picture due to the jewel case caused PL to postpone an event with her participation, which will assume the chairmanship of PL Mulher. The party has political plans for the former first lady, relying mainly on her acceptance among the evangelical public.

In his latest public appearance in the US, Bolsonaro admitted that he could lose his political rights in a trial in the Higher Electoral Court (TSE), and ruled out the possibility of Michelle running for a position on the Executive, i.e. president. The PL project calls for Michelle to run for Senate.

“The history of jewels harms the project [de se cacifar para 2026], even if the brunt of the burden falls on Jair Bolsonaro. The announcement of living in rent to reiterate that he has no assets does not hold up and joins other issues that are connecting [ao episódio das joias]as in the case of the check [de R$ 89 mil] received from Fabricio Queiroz,” says Cunha.

Much could still change in the political scenario by 2026, and the researcher points out that there are new far-right leaders among the religious public who are conquering important spaces. What stands out the most, according to her, is Federal Deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), who received the most votes in the country. The young politician, she says, “has managed to bring sexual morality back to the center of the political dispute and follows the strategy of trivializing politics and debauchery”, the same ones that have appealed to Jair Bolsonaro.

collective silence

Professor of media studies and anthropology at the University of Virginia, David Nemer monitors far-right networks on Telegram. He confirmed to DW that there was a sort of collective silence after the jewel affair.

Silence, he explains, is a common reaction in these radical groups when they are surprised by an episode of exhaustion and are unable to react quickly. After a period of silence comes the attack, which is usually “not a plausible answer to explain what’s going on”. “They always attack Lula or the left.”

Nemer points out that the usual tactic of the far right, visible even now, is to recycle old news and claim that “Lula allegedly stole trillions.” According to him, it would be an attempt to establish parameters, as if the value of the jewels were negligible compared to what Lula, in the opinion of this public, has “stolen”. “That is, they don’t care much about defending Bolsonaro’s honesty,” concludes the professor.

Nemer points out that the activity of the groups has been rather weak in recent months, especially after the terrorist acts of January 8, which are being investigated by the Federal Police and the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

For him, the actions of the STF and even the TSE are inhibiting the extremists. The Judiciary’s attack on the funding sources of extremism, according to the professor, had results and affected both the creation and dissemination of non-informative or false content. In Telegram, for example, the drop in the number of users in these networks has reached 30%, he points out.

The narrative convinces the most radical

According to political scientist Camila Rocha, a researcher at the Brazilian Analysis and Planning Center (Cebrap), the concern of both Bolsonaro and Michelle to comment on the latest episode of the jewels is a clear signal that there has been damage to the capital policy of both.

Supporters’ narrative is that it is “a plot by the mainstream media to wear down Bolsonaro,” she says, who monitors and conducts qualitative research with right-wing groups. “[Esse episódio das joias] It had a huge impact and became famous, even in the international media.”

However, although there has been damage to his image, Rocha argues that, for radical supporters, the narrative set up by the Bolsonaro clan should prevail, which is an uproar and that neither he nor Michelle had plans to keep the jewels. in this group.

Source: Terra

Rose

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