Explaining Brazil #107: Why is support for Bolsonaro so resilient?

President Jair Bolsonaro greets supporters. Photo: Alan Santos/PR

A recent poll by Ideia Big Data suggests that recent turmoil has begun taking its toll on the president’s support base. Those who disapprove of the federal administration jumped from 34 to 41 percent — with 25 percent saying the government is flat-out terrible. Moreover, support amongst the upper classes is deteriorating. Among richer Brazilians, a stark 47 percent of voters rated the government as bad or terrible.

Still, it is too soon to write Mr. Bolsonaro off just yet.

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On this episode:

Mauricio Moura is the founder and chief executive officer of Ideia Big Data. He is also a visiting scholar at George Washington University and a former investment officer at the International Finance Corporation. Mr. Moura holds a Ph.D. in Public Sector Economics from think tank Fundação Getúlio Vargas.

Background reading:

We share with you Ideia Big Data’s findings on Jair Bolsonaro’s popularity ratings.

Episode #106 explores the latest scandal in the Bolsonaro administration. Former Operation Car Wash judge-turned-Justice Minister Sergio Moro resigned from the cabinet, accusing his boss, President Jair Bolsonaro, of trying to meddle with federal investigations and illegally requesting confidential police reports.
Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency: when ‘Groundhog Day’ meets ‘Friday the 13th’.
President Bolsonaro’s words encourage Brazilians to ignore social isolation.
The government’s future hinges on the economy. But a job apocalypse is on the horizon.

Explaining Brazil is made by:

Gustavo Ribeiro, editor in chief of The Brazilian Report. He has extensive experience covering Brazilian politics. His work has been featured across Brazilian and French media outlets, including Veja, Época, Folha de S.Paulo, Médiapart, and Radio France Internationale.
Euan Marshall, editing. Euan is a journalist and translator who has lived in São Paulo, Brazil since 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics and the connection between the two, his work has been published in The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Independent, among others.

Do you have a suggestion for our next Explaining Brazil podcast? Drop us a line at podcast@brazilian.report

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