Brazil goes Back to the Future for October’s election

Released in 1985, “Back to the Future” quickly became one of the classics of American cinema. In the film, Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly is accidentally transported back to 1955 in Doc Brown’s iconic DeLorean time machine. In the past, Marty meets his mother, who quickly becomes infatuated with him. Realizing that this passion puts his own existence at risk, Marty is forced to play Cupid for his parents, so that he can return to the present day in peace.

For better or for worse, Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro doesn’t own a time-traveling DeLorean. But with October’s elections fast approaching, the firebrand head of state is trying to reconstruct the past — specifically the 2020 elections in the U.S. — creating Brazil’s own political Back to the Future.

It is worth noting that both Mr. Bolsonaro and Donald Trump were successfully elected by positioning themselves as anti-political outsiders. This same wave took hold in Europe, seeing figures such as Boris Johnson, Beppe Grillo, Pablo Iglesias, and Emmanuel Macron reach positions of...