US President Donald Trump accused Brazil of carrying out a “WITCH HUNT” against his coup-charged right-wing ally Jair Bolsonaro Monday, while telling Brazilian authorities to “LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE.”
“I have watched, as has the World, as they have done nothing but come after him, day after day, night after night, month after month, year after year!” Trump said of the ex-president’s court case in a social media post.
Bolsonaro is facing trial before Brazil’s Supreme Court for allegedly leading a “criminal organization” that plotted a coup to keep him in power after his defeat in the 2022 elections to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
According to prosecutors, the alleged coup plot failed to materialize due to a lack of support from the military high command.
Bolsonaro faces a possible sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
He claims to be the victim of “political persecution” to prevent him from running for president next year, despite being barred from running until 2030 for spreading misinformation about the electoral system.
Trump’s comments came as Lula hosted representatives from China, Russia, Iran and other nations for a BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The summit has criticized Trump’s tariffs and his bombing of Iran, drawing the US president’s ire and a threat of 10 percent additional tariffs on each BRICS-aligned country.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hit back at Donald Trump’s “interference” in a highly charged coup case Monday, saying it would be dealt with fairly and “no one is above the law.”
The US president earlier accused Brazil of carrying out a “WITCH HUNT” against his embattled right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, telling authorities to “LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE.”
Via AFP