Jair Bolsonaro

On 29 September, a month after the attack, Bolsonaro was released from the hospital and returned to his home in Rio de Janeiro. His condition prevented him from returning to the campaign trail for the remainder of the first round of the presidential election.[97]

The first federal police investigation into the attack concluded that the attacker acted alone, but the investigation "leaves out many issues".[98] Bolsonaro said he did not observe "any effort by former minister Sergio Moro to resolve the matter."[96] Joaquim de Carvalho has said that the police left out of their investigation the search for information by a mastermind of the attack or even a self-attack. For this, expert medical examination of Bolsonaro and review of the medical records would be needed.

Police arrested and identified the attacker as Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, who, according to security agents, claimed he was on "a mission from God".[92] He had been a member of the Socialism and Liberty Party from 2007 to 2014. His social media posts included political criticisms of both Bolsonaro and Temer.[93] But an initial Federal Police investigation concluded that Adélio had no help from political organizations and acted alone.[94] A medical report produced for a second investigation concluded that Bispo is mentally disturbed, having a "permanent paranoid delusional disorder" which, according to Brazilian law, prevents him from being considered legally liable for his actions.[95] In a May 2019 decision, the Federal Court found Bispo not liable. Bolsonaro did not appeal the decision.

Stabbing attack during campaign

The moment Bolsonaro was attacked at the Juiz de Fora rally

Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen on 6 September 2018 while campaigning and interacting with supporters in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais.[84] At first, his son Flávio Bolsonaro stated that his father's wounds were only superficial and he was recovering in the hospital,[85] but he later said the wounds seemed worse than initially thought[86] and his father most likely would not be able to start campaigning personally before the end of the first round.

Another highly controversial aspect of the campaign was the alleged use of illegal digital communication strategies by some of Bolsonaro's most important financial supporters. According to an investigation by Folha de S.Paulo, one of Brazil's best-selling newspapers, "Bolsonaro has been getting an illegal helping hand from a group of Brazilian entrepreneurs who are bankrolling a campaign to bombard WhatsApp users with fake news about Haddad." The suspicions led to a formal investigation by electoral authorities and the Federal Police; Bolsonaro and allies denied any wrongdoing. Another controversial point was that Taíse Feijó, now an adviser in Bolsonaro's government, was among those paid to feed fake news to his supporters.

But does sounding like a Nazi make him a Nazi? Insomuch as he believes in holding elections, he is not there yet. However, things could change quickly if he gains power." Jason Stanley, a Yale philosopher who has published widely on Nazism, said that Bolsonaro "uses more tactics associated to fascism than [the] American president Donald Trump". Harvard's Steven Levitsky said that Bolsonaro "is clearly authoritarian", but not a fascist. Similar concerns were raised by analysts in Portugal and Brazil. Others, such as Marxist historian Perry Anderson, dismissed the "fascist" and "populist" labels altogether.

After the first round, when his victory looked certain, Bolsonaro gave a speech by videolink to thousands of supporters who gathered at Paulista Avenue, in São Paulo. In the speech, he threatened to arrest, purge or kill "reds" and "petralhas" (a derogatory term for Worker's Party's members), and promised that members of the social movements MST and MTST would be treated as "terrorists". He said: "This time, the clean-up will be even greater. This group ["reds"], if they want to stay, will have to abide by our laws. These red outlaws will be banned from our homeland. Either they go overseas, or they go to jail. Petralhada, you all go to the edge of the beach. It will be a cleaning never seen in the history of Brazil".[64][65] The "edge of the beach", a Bolsonaro aide later confirmed, was a reference to a Navy base at Restinga da Marambaia, in Rio de Janeiro State, where the Brazilian military dictatorship tortured and killed dissidents.[66] The speech was widely condemned by rivals, journalists and politicians.

Bolsonaro won the runoff election with 55.13% of the votes, and was elected the 38th president of Brazil. He took office on 1 January 2019.

During the campaign, academics repeatedly raised concerns about the consequences of Bolsonaro's rise for the Brazilian democracy. In the news magazine Foreign Policy, Federico Finchelstein, a historian at the New School for Social Research who specializes in fascism, wrote, "Bolsonaro's vocabulary recalls the rhetoric behind Nazi policies of persecution and victimization.

After the first round, when his victory looked certain, Bolsonaro gave a speech by videolink to thousands of supporters who gathered at Paulista Avenue, in São Paulo. In the speech, he threatened to arrest, purge or kill "reds" and "petralhas" (a derogatory term for Worker's Party's members), and promised that members of the social movements MST and MTST would be treated as "terrorists". He said: "This time, the clean-up will be even greater. This group ["reds"], if they want to stay, will have to abide by our laws. These red outlaws will be banned from our homeland. Either they go overseas, or they go to jail. Petralhada, you all go to the edge of the beach. It will be a cleaning never seen in the history of Brazil".[64][65] The "edge of the beach", a Bolsonaro aide later confirmed, was a reference to a Navy base at Restinga da Marambaia, in Rio de Janeiro State, where the Brazilian military dictatorship tortured and killed dissidents.[66] The speech was widely condemned by rivals, journalists and politicians.

After the Workers' Party candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was arrested in April 2018, Bolsonaro became the front-runner in the election, according to all major opinion polls.[59][60] A Datafolha poll from September showed Bolsonaro as the leading candidate in the first round with 28% of vote intentions, though runoff scenarios showed him losing to Geraldo Alckmin, Fernando Haddad and Ciro Gomes and tying with Marina Silva.[61] Another Datafolha poll, conducted the week before election day, showed a considerable surge for Bolsonaro, who had 40% of vote intentions, or 36% when null or blank vote intentions were included. Haddad came in second with 25%, and Gomes third with 15% The first round of the election occurred on 7 October 2018. Bolsonaro finished in first place with 46% of the popular vote (49.2 million). Since he failed to win 50%, he faced the second-place finisher, Haddad, in a runoff held on 28 October 2018.[63]

Bolsonaro is known for his finger-gun gesture, which he used during the presidential campaign.

After the first round, when his victory looked certain, Bolsonaro gave a speech by videolink to thousands of supporters who gathered at Paulista Avenue, in São Paulo. In the speech, he threatened to arrest, purge or kill "reds" and "petralhas" (a derogatory term for Worker's Party's members), and promised that members of the social movements MST and MTST would be treated as "terrorists". He said: "This time, the clean-up will be even greater. This group ["reds"], if they want to stay, will have to abide by our laws. These red outlaws will be banned from our homeland. Either they go overseas, or they go to jail.

According to political pundits, Bolsonaro moderated his tone early in the campaign, taking a less aggressive and confrontational style. Economically, he started to support less government intervention in the economy (in contrast to the past, when he defended developmentalist policies). On the other hand, he maintained his tough stance on crime and his defense of "traditional family values".[50] Bolsonaro also said he planned to cut taxes across the board, particularly on inheritances and businesses, to generate growth and tackle unemployment. He also promised more austerity measures and cuts in government spending, but had difficulty naming the areas where he would make cuts. He also said he would work to diminish the federal government's size and bureaucracy by enacting a wide variety of deregulation measures. Bolsonaro's promises to restore security amid record high crime and to stamp out Brazil's rampant political corruption won him huge popular support. In October, he announced he would name liberal economist Paulo Guedes as his finance minister On 9 August 2018, Bolsonaro attended the first presidential debate of the year, organized by the TV network Rede Bandeirantes.[55] A week later, there was another debate at RedeTV!.[56] On 28 August, he gave an interview to Jornal Nacional, Brazil's highest-rated primetime news program, at Rede Globo Bolsonaro was the first presidential candidate to raise over R$1 million in donations from the public during the 2018 campaign. In the first 59 days, he amassed an average of R$17,000 per day.[58]

After the Workers' Party candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was arrested in April 2018, Bolsonaro became the front-runner in the election, according to all major opinion polls.[59][60] A Datafolha poll from September showed Bolsonaro as the leading candidate in the first round with 28% of vote intentions, though runoff scenarios showed him losing to Geraldo Alckmin, Fernando Haddad and Ciro Gomes and tying with Marina Silva.[61] Another Datafolha poll, conducted the week before election day, showed a considerable surge for Bolsonaro, who had 40% of vote intentions, or 36% when null or blank vote intentions were included. Haddad came in second with 25%, and Gomes third with 15%

According to political pundits, Bolsonaro moderated his tone early in the campaign, taking a less aggressive and confrontational style. Economically, he started to support less government intervention in the economy (in contrast to the past, when he defended developmentalist policies). On the other hand, he maintained his tough stance on crime and his defense of "traditional family values".[50] Bolsonaro also said he planned to cut taxes across the board, particularly on inheritances and businesses, to generate growth and tackle unemployment. He also promised more austerity measures and cuts in government spending, but had difficulty naming the areas where he would make cuts. He also said he would work to diminish the federal government's size and bureaucracy by enacting a wide variety of deregulation measures. Bolsonaro's promises to restore security amid record high crime and to stamp out Brazil's rampant political corruption won him huge popular support. In October, he announced he would name liberal economist Paulo Guedes as his finance minister On 9 August 2018, Bolsonaro attended the first presidential debate of the year, organized by the TV network Rede Bandeirantes.[55] A week later, there was another debate at RedeTV!.[56] On 28 August, he gave an interview to Jornal Nacional, Brazil's highest-rated primetime news program, at Rede Globo

According to political pundits, Bolsonaro moderated his tone early in the campaign, taking a less aggressive and confrontational style. Economically, he started to support less government intervention in the economy (in contrast to the past, when he defended developmentalist policies). On the other hand, he maintained his tough stance on crime and his defense of "traditional family values".[50] Bolsonaro also said he planned to cut taxes across the board, particularly on inheritances and businesses, to generate growth and tackle unemployment. He also promised more austerity measures and cuts in government spending, but had difficulty naming the areas where he would make cuts. He also said he would work to diminish the federal government's size and bureaucracy by enacting a wide variety of deregulation measures. Bolsonaro's promises to restore security amid record high crime and to stamp out Brazil's rampant political corruption won him huge popular support. In October, he announced he would name liberal economist Paulo Guedes as his finance minister

According to political pundits, Bolsonaro moderated his tone early in the campaign, taking a less aggressive and confrontational style. Economically, he started to support less government intervention in the economy (in contrast to the past, when he defended developmentalist policies). On the other hand, he maintained his tough stance on crime and his defense of "traditional family values".[50] Bolsonaro also said he planned to cut taxes across the board, particularly on inheritances and businesses, to generate growth and tackle unemployment.

Presidential campaign (2018)

Main article: Jair Bolsonaro presidential campaign

On 22 July 2018, the PSL nominated Bolsonaro for president in the 2018 election.[45] The Brazilian Labour Renewal Party also endorsed him. His coalition name was "Brazil above everything, God above everyone" (Brasil acima de tudo, Deus acima de todos).[46][47] Though contested by two lawsuits, the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil deferred them and his candidacy was made official on 6 August.[48] In August Bolsonaro announced that Antônio Hamilton Mourão, a retired army general, would be his running mate.