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Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of using the Queen’s funeral as a political soapbox after he flew into London to deliver a speech to supporters about the dangers of leftists, abortion and “gender ideology”.
Speaking from the balcony of the Brazilian ambassador’s 19th-century Mayfair home on Sunday, the South American populist voiced “profound respect” for the royal family and UK citizens and claimed that honouring Queen Elizabeth II was the “main objective” of his visit to London.
But Bolsonaro – who looks poised to lose next month’s presidential election in Brazil – then switched immediately into campaign mode, despite the moment of mourning.
“We’re on the right path,” Brazil’s president told hundreds of yellow-clad supporters who had rallied outside the building – less than two miles from Westminster Hall where the Queen was lying in state.
“We are a country that does not want to discuss the legalisation of drugs, that does not want to discuss the legalisation of abortion and a country that does not accept gender ideology,” Bolsonaro went on. “Our slogan is: God, homeland, family and freedom.”
Bolsonaro’s politically charged comments delighted the hardcore supporters who had come to hear him in central London but sparked anger in the UK and Brazil.
“It’s a funeral, dude,” tweeted Vera Magalhães, a prominent Brazilian journalist who was recently verbally attacked by Bolsonaro during a televised presidential debate.
“Bolsonaro has turned the Queen’s funeral into an election soapbox,” complained Joice Hasselmann, a right-wing politician and former Bolsonaro ally.
