'Homosexual face' - Brazilian president uses bizarre insult during spray at press amid corruption in

[Judi Lynn]

'Homosexual face' - Brazilian president uses bizarre insult during spray at press amid corruption investigation

2:35PM • SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro lashed out at journalists on Friday, singling out one as looking like a homosexual, amid news reports of a corruption investigation linked to his son.

. . .

Prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro are investigating allegations the younger Bolsonaro hired employees with no duties while he was a state legislator. Another investigation is probing whether those "phantom" workers kicked back part of their salaries to then be laundered through a chocolate shop he co-owns.

In a video posted to Faceook, the younger Bolsonaro has delivered a lengthy denial of all wrongdoing.

. . .

At a routine morning meeting with journalists in the capital, the president complained that media have accused him of being a racist and committing crimes against the environment.

More:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/homosexual-face-brazilian-president-uses-bizarre-insult-during-spray-press-amid-corruption-investigation

LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142410565

[Judi Lynn]

1. Brazil: Bolsonaro in homophobic outburst as corruption scandal swirls

Critics interpret president’s attack on journalist as attempt to divert attention from spiralling scandal involving son Flávio

Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro and Tom Phillips

Fri 20 Dec 2019 15.32 EST

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has launched a homophobic attack on a journalist from one of the country’s top newspapers in an apparent bid to divert attention from a spiraling corruption scandal involving his son.

“You look terribly like a homosexual,” Bolsonaro – who has previously boasted of being “proudly” homophobic – told the reporter, when asked about the politically explosive money-laundering inquiry that saw investigators raid a series of addresses linked to his family on Thursday.

Many observers interpreted the outburst – which came as a new poll showed Bolsonaro’s approval ratings hitting record lows – as a deliberate attempt to draw the media’s gaze away from the investigation into his senator son Flávio.

But Bolsonaro’s homophobic comment served only to further highlight the inquiry into whether Flávio Bolsonaro oversaw a corruption racket during his time as a lawmaker in Rio de Janeiro. Part of the investigation focuses on suspicions Flávio laundered money through a chocolate shop registered with authorities under the name Bolsotini.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-homophobic-outburst-corruption-scandal