Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro abuses country's top judge during live stream, removes video

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro not only dismissed calls to settle his feud with the Supreme Court but on August 6 he abused one of its justices. As per reports, the far-right leader called Luis Roberto Barroso, the top court justice and also the head of the Supreme Electoral Court, a “son of a wh**e.” Bolsonaro’s use of blue language came as tensions rise with the country’s judiciary over his baseless claims that the nation’s voting system is vulnerable and fraudulent. 

While speaking to the supporters in Southern Brazil, Bolsonaro insulted Barroso. The insult was uttered by the Brazilian President during a live broadcast shared on his Facebook account. Now even though the live stream has been deleted by the official account, the copies of the moment when Bolsonaro made the remark continue to surface on the internet. Following Bolsonaro’s comments, Barroso addressed the same while speaking at a forum on electoral systems.

Barroso said that if is his actions were causing such a nuisance, it was a sign that he was doing his job properly. The latest tiff follows weeks of Bolsonaro trying to tout against the electronic urns used in Brazil and pushing for the adoption of printed receipts that can be counted in case of retally. 

Brazilian President claimed that the electronic urns have allowed electoral fraud, though he has failed to provide any such evidence in such cases. The country’s top electoral court, as well as the members of its Supreme Court, have denied the possibility of any fraud in the electronic voting system. Both bodies have even said that the system is efficient and can also be audited. Several critics, as per reports, have compared Bolsonaro floating doubts to the country’s electoral system with former US President Donald Trump, to enhance his chances for a win in 2022.

Bolsonaro supporters rally against voting system

Brazilian government’s supporters rallied in several major cities on August 1 to call for changes in the country’s electronic voting system which the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has said is not trustworthy. Bolsonaro has increasingly laid emphasis on the adoption of printed ballots that can be audited along with a mixed system including electronic runs that would also print out receipts that can be counted if any results are challenged. In a video projected to demonstrators in Brasilia, Bolsonaro repeated a warning that elections will not be held next year “if they are not clean and democratic.” He said, "People who say electronic voting is safe and subject to audits are liars."

IMAGE: AP