Insider

Bolsonaro makes gun threat to influencer in controversial tweet

bolsonaro gun threat social media
Bolsonaro at a shooting range. Photo: Carolina Antunes/PR

Moderation is not President Jair Bolsonaro’s strong suit, especially when he is posting on social media. On Monday afternoon, the far-right head of state created yet another whirlwind of outrage by tweeting that he would have no trouble shooting a famous Brazilian streamer who made fun of him.

Cauê Moura, a YouTube streamer with 2.6 million Twitter followers, published a video of Mr. Bolsonaro at a shooting range struggling to handle a gun. “This foolish captain doesn’t even know how to shoot,” he said.

Two hours later, the president answered, saying “if the target was chubby like you, it wouldn’t be hard to hit.”

Mr. Bolsonaro has a history of causing controversy with his social media posts. Among the most notable examples came during the Carnival holiday in 2019, when the president posted a video of a man urinating on another man, before asking his followers: “what is a golden shower?”

But the president has also made himself notable for spreading Covid-related misinformation online, which has led to platforms taking down several of his posts.