The face of Brazil’s “hipster” alt-right

The new president Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in on January 1 and has already gone to work rearranging the 22 ministries of his cabinet. However, any actual lawmaking will have to wait until February, when the Legislative branch returns from its holiday and a brand-new Congress is sworn in. And the first order of business of a new Legislature is among the most important: the election of the House Speaker and Senate President.

The dispute in the lower house has made headlines, with at least six candidates vying for the job and plenty of repercussions for the government depending on who comes out on top.

Looking through the potential Speakers, we have the incumbent Rodrigo Maia (the preferred option of the president’s Social Liberal Party), Fabio Ramalho (Mr. Bolsonaro’s personal favorite for the job), and Arthur Lira, who is likely to be backed by the majority of the opposition.

Glancing further down the list, we come across the name of Kim Kataguiri, a first-term congressman among a group of skilled and experienced political operators. At just 22 years old (he will turn 23 at the end of the month) he is hoping to become the youngest House Speaker in Brazil’s history.

Does he have a shot? Well, no. Not in the slightest.

Kim Kataguiri is the poster child of a new generation of young Brazilian reactionaries who have sprouted up on social media. After over four years in the spotlight, building his fame mainly through outspoken YouTube videos, he has gained an army of followers—and a potentially larger mass of haters—and he is set to be one...