Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19. No surprise here. Considering how the president consistently violated social distancing measures & hugged supporters without wearing a mask, it was always a question of when, not whether this would happen.
What's next? A few thoughts 🧵👇
What's next? A few thoughts 🧵👇
Assuming that Bolsonaro will recover quickly, he can use the situation to his political benefit.
1) He has said numerous times that he is taking hydroxychloroquine preventively, despite a lack of scientific evidence. His recovery will convince many that he was right, after all.
1) He has said numerous times that he is taking hydroxychloroquine preventively, despite a lack of scientific evidence. His recovery will convince many that he was right, after all.
2) He will also use his recovery to substantiate his claim that the pandemic is not that serious, after all. Contradicting expert advice, he announced his positive test result standing next to reporters, and took off his mask at the end. His test result will not change his mind.
3) Bolsonaro almost died on the campaign trail in after a mentally ill person attacked him. Overcoming COVID-19 without showing any serious symptoms may consolidate the view among his radical supporters that Bolsonaro is a superhuman messiah (which is also his middle name).
4) Finally, some people on social media have said they hope Bolsonaro will get sick or die of COVID-19. Bolsonaro & his allies will use such comments to show that the opposition is crazy & radicalized & that it is the opposition, not Bolsonaro, that poses the authoritarian threat
Worth pointing out here that Bolsonaro's strategy to minimize the pandemic has a clear electoral logic behind it: he must make sure that voters will not blame him for the economic crisis, but that their anger will be directed at those who proposed social distancing measures.
