Conservative former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro thanked God for the reelection of President Donald Trump during a rally speech on Sunday, stating he has “nothing but gratitude” for the two years during which they concurrently served as presidents of their respective nations.
Bolsonaro accompanied an estimated 44,000 supporters and several politicians, including local governors, in São Paulo for a peaceful rally in support of amnesty for the over 900 individuals arrested for their participation in the January 8, 2023, riot. In that incident, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the premises of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Federal Tribunal, and Planalto presidential palace, causing significant damage to the facilities, furniture, and priceless historical artifacts housed therein.
“Thank God Donald Trump was elected in the United States. I have nothing but gratitude for the two years we spent together in our respective presidencies,” Bolsonaro said.
In front of a crowd of 1 million people, President @jairbolsonaro send a message to the world and to President @realDonaldTrump (English subtitle). pic.twitter.com/2RhXbtB84s
— Eduardo Bolsonaro🇧🇷 (@BolsonaroSP) April 6, 2025
Sunday’s rally was a follow-up to a similar event held Rio de Janeiro in March and the first major pro-Bolsonaro demonstration in Brazil after the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) ruled that Bolsonaro must stand trial on charges of trying to poison radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and stage a “coup” to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election.
Bolsonaro expressed hope that he will receive outside help to potentially overturn his ban on running for public office for allegedly having spread “misinformation” about Brazil’s electoral voting machines and referred to one of his sons, lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, who fled Brazil and requested political asylum in the United States in March. The removal of his ban from running for office would allow the elder Bolsonaro to run for a second term in the 2026 presidential election.
“Next year the TSE [Superior Electoral Tribunal] will have a completely impartial profile and we can have confidence again in next year’s elections,” Bolsonaro said. “Don’t worry about me, cowardice can happen. One of my sons was missing today, 03 [Eduardo Bolsonaro], who speaks English, Spanish, and Arabic. He has contact with important people all over the world and he’s in the United States.”
If found guilty of all charges in the yet-to-be-scheduled trial, the 70-year-old former Brazilian president faces up to 39 years in prison. In late March, Bolsonaro spoke with the left-wing Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo and stressed that a possible guilty prison sentence would mark the “end of his life.”
“It’s the end of my life. I’m already 70 years old,” Bolsonaro said. “A possible arrest would be completely unjust. Where is my crime? Where did I break something [a law]? Where is the proof of a possible coup? Other than discussing constitutional provisions that haven’t left the realm of words.”
Bolsonaro asserted to Folha that he is not considering seeking political asylum in the United States like his son to avoid said potential prison sentence.
During the event this weekend, Bolsonaro’s wife, former Brazilian First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro, called for a “humanitarian amnesty” for those convicted for their participation in the January 2023 riots. The former first lady and several participants reportedly held up lipsticks in support of Débora Rodrigues dos Santos, a Brazilian hairdresser who spent over a year in prison for writing “you lost, sucker” on an STF statue during the riots.
In late March, STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes ruled to grant house arrest provisions to Rodrigues dos Santos on the grounds that her trial is presently suspended and she has already served 25 percent of a potential sentence. Although her trial is suspended at press time, both de Moraes and STF Minister Flavio Dino have already voted in favor of her conviction. Bolsonaro referred to her case Sunday during his speech.
“I have no adjective to describe someone who condemns a mother of two to such an absurd sentence for a crime she didn’t commit,” Bolsonaro said. “Only a psychopath would say that what happened on January 8th was an armed attempt at a military coup. And he condemns these people, as they say in the jargon of justice, like a cakewalk.”
A bill originally presented by lawmakers from Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL) has been under debate in Congress since October 2024 that, if turned into law, would grant amnesty to the hundreds of individuals arrested or already convicted for their participation in the January 2023 riots.
