Bolsonaro’s digital army going after inquiry rapporteur

Renan Calheiros' alignment was even lower than those of opposition senators. Photo: Marcelo Camargo/ABr

After going to court to try and remove Senator Renan Calheiros as the rapporteur of the Senate’s hearings committee to investigate the government’s pandemic response, allies of President Jair Bolsonaro have coordinated social media attacks on Mr. Calheiros.

There is no love lost between the senator and Mr. Bolsonaro, particularly after the latter moved to prevent Mr. Calheiros’s election as Senate President in 2019. Moreover, Mr. Calheiros will be keen to keep the inquiry’s focus on the federal government and away from state and municipal administrations — his son Renan Filho is the governor of his home state Alagoas.

Monitoring by big data firm Inteligov shows the extent of the gulf between Mr. Bolsonaro and the inquiry’s rapporteur. Of the committee’s 18 members (including understudies), Mr. Calheiros demonstrated the lowest government alignment since 2019, when Mr. Bolsonaro took office.

The platform considered senators’ votes on issues in which the government had a clear stake. Mr. Calheiros’ alignment was even lower than those of opposition senators, including the committee’s deputy chair Randolfe Rodrigues.

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