Coronavirus

Health Minister’s approval rating dwarfs Bolsonaro’s

Health Minister’s approval rating dwarfs Bolsonaro's
President Jair Bolsonaro. Photo: Alan Santos/PR

According to pollster Datafolha, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta’s approval is twice as big as President Jair Bolsonaro’s. The cabinet member — who has become the face of the anti-Covid-19 effort in Brazil — is approved by 76 percent of voters, up from 55 percent two weeks ago. Only 5 percent deem Mr. Mandetta is doing a poor job. Brazilian state governors also saw a bump in their popularity — up to 58 from 55 percent.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bolsonaro is rejected by 39 percent of voters — from 33 percent two weeks ago. His approval rating, however, remains stable, at 33 percent, falling only two percentage points and within the margin of error.

Datafolha has said that the two polls amid the Covid-19 crisis shouldn’t be compared with previous surveys without some caveats, largely related to methodology. The institute replaced in-person interviews for telephone surveys, which can deliver different results within the confidence interval.

Earlier today, brokerage firm XP released its own poll, as previously reported by this live blog.