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BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR Bolsonaro said that it was wrong for him to tell a journalist a day earlier that he had “the face of a homosexual”.
“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have said it,” the country’s far-right leader told reporters at the presidential residence in Brasilia, according to the news website G1.
The original comment by the notoriously outspoken president came in response to a reporter’s question about an investigation into his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, for alleged money laundering when he was a regional deputy.
Pressed by the reporter, a visibly flustered Bolsonaro replied, “You have the face of a homosexual, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to accuse you of being a homosexual”.
His comments, while welcomed by some Bolsonaro supporters, sparked a sharp reaction from media group.
The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI) accused Bolsonaro, a frequent critic of the press, of “promoting the moral harassment of journalists… (whose work) is fundamental for democracy”.
In an editorial Saturday, the daily O Estado de S.Paulo, one of the country’s largest papers, said Bolsonaro lacked “the necessary decorum for the job”.
It said his behavior “shames citizens and compromises the country’s reputation”.
Bolsonaro, who is nearing the end of his first year in office, told Playboy magazine in 2011 that he “wouldn’t be able to love a gay son… I’d prefer a son to die in an accident.”
On Friday, Bolsonaro lashed out at prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro for allegedly leaking information about the inquiry into his son.
“The investigation began last year and they’ve still found nothing,” the president said.
Two days earlier, police had raided several properties owned by the younger Bolsonaro, by his former aides or by President Bolsonaro’s ex-wife.
Flavio Bolsonaro – who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing — is suspected of having employed phantom employees whose salaries were then used to buy an apartment and a chocolate store.
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Well maybe the reporter just couldn’t keep a straight face
@Jake Kelly: lol!
More important he has burned down millions acres of the Amazon over 100% increase on last year and this will impact our climate the world over and still EU imports beef from Brazil.
@GO GREEN: yep – which is curious, considering that Beef could be supplied by the Irish Market, 1. Reducing the EU’s carbon footprint, 2. Supporting a fellow EU Nation’s Economy, 3. Securing fiscal security for Irish Beef Farmers, & finally, 4. Not compromising on quality of food for a marginally cheaper product, to the detriment of EU Jobs (Irish Beef Farmers).
Can you think of more reasons to support EU Industries? Write them below!
If you’re unhappy with beef imports into the EU from Brasil, you know what to do! Raise your concerns with your MEP.
Here, you’ll find the link to the contact details for your constituency’s MEP – put them to work!
Disgusting behaviour from a head of state. Politics really is the gutter these days.
@Ebeneezer Goode: reflection of harder times to come with protectionist nationalist parties getting into power everywhere.
@Monty Donotno: “getting into power everywhere” Monty, that has to be a contender for the sweeping statement of the year prize!
@Dom Layzell: Dom, doesn’t it bother you that this sort of behaviour from politicians has been linked with a rise in hate crimes? It feeds it, it encourages it, it gives it oxygen.
How would he know?
LGBT+ people deserve to live happy lives free from prejudice. For that to happen, we must all step up to help bring #homophobia, #biphobia and #transphobia to an end.
If you see it, #call #It #Out
@UCC Social Democrats Society: respect for all phobias
@UCC Social Democrats Society: #Arachnophobia, when you see a spider #Call #It #Out
@NPC4452347: are human rights a joke to you x
@UCC Social Democrats Society: Hay everyone gets stick, if your fat or skinny, tall or small, blond or red haired, you get stick and all normally from the exact same people? But there are some who are emotionally immature sociopaths who confuse pure psych hatred with banter but I think PC correctness might be fuelling the right wing in society due in part to snowflakes being over sensitive. But all the nuts are copying Trump as that might make them re-electable, not due to the crazy stuff they say but by being able to make headlines all the time? Hay Capt Chainsaw said to a woman reporter who was gay that he could cure her of it, it doesn’t mean he believes what he says but he knows that those who shout enough end up getting what they want and that is popularity???
@UCC Social Democrats Society: the worst are the biphobes! They’re disgracefully cis-normative. Hope they rot in their unsafe spaces.
Projection, much?
That was a very odd and irrelevant response.
Where did Captain Chainsaw keep it? lol.
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