Youngest Bolsonaro son a chip off the old block

“I’d rather die having sex than die coughing.” This crude declaration was uttered by Jair Renan Valle Bolsonaro, the 22-year-old son of President Jair Bolsonaro, on the morning of April 30, as Brazil saw its Covid-19 death records shoot up. “What pandemic, man? That’s just the media trying to make you stay at home and think the world’s ending. It’s just a little flu, brother. I got it, it passed. I’d rather die coughing than die having sex … I mean, I’d rather die having sex than die coughing,” he said, during a live broadcast on videogame streaming platform Twitch.

Presented to the country by his father as his Son #04 — #01 is Senator Flávio Bolsonaro; #02 is Rio de Janeiro city councilor Carlos Bolsonaro, and #03 is Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro — Jair Renan is following in the footsteps of the other male members of the president’s brood, gaining followers on social media and preparing himself to enter politics.

Jair Renan has quickly become the most public of the Bolsonaro brothers. He has no qualms about exposing his private life on social media, which involved everything from his workout routine to his alcohol-soaked nights out.

On the morning of December 18, Jair Renan uploaded a story to his Instagram account showing off his latest haircut at a barbershop in his upper-middle-class neighborhood in Brasilia. At the same time, over in Rio de Janeiro, Federal Police officers were searching the homes of nine of his relatives, including his mother, President Bolsonaro’s ex-wife...