Jair Bolsonaro | Photo: Wikimedia/Janine Moraes
The far-right frontrunner for Brazil’s presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro, was stabbed while campaigning in Juiz de Fora.
Authorities took him to a nearby hospital and then transferred him to another one in Sao Paulo.
According to reports, he was stabbed in the abdomen and lost more than two liters of blood. His situation was life-threatening but he is now in ‘excellent clinical condition’.
Bolsonaro’s son, Flavio, who is running for Senate, tweeted a photo of his father in his hospital bed. He will reportedly have to remain in the hospital for a week.
Jair Bolsonaro está mais forte do que nunca e pronto para ser eleito Presidente do Brasil no 1° TURNO!
Deus acaba de nos dar mais um sinal de que o bem vencerá o mal!
Obrigado a todos que nos deram força nesse momento muito difícil!
Brasil acima de tudo, Deus acima de todos! pic.twitter.com/iijlCFBhE1— Flavio Bolsonaro 177 Senador_RJ (@FlavioBolsonaro) September 7, 2018
Police arrested 40-year-old Adélio Bispo de Oliveira for the attack.
Oliveira is a left-wing supporter and vocal critic of Bolsonaro — although some worry this will win Bolsonaro more support and sympathy. His family said he allegedly has mental health problems and that they are not in contact with him.
Bolsonaro’s political rivals are condemning the attack.
A polarizing – ‘repulsive’? – figure
Bolsonaro has numerous critics, with some comparing him to Donald Trump, and others still wondering if he’s the world’s ‘most repulsive’ politician.
In 2015, he said blood transfusion patients should be able to reject blood if it came from a gay person.
Earlier, in a 2011 interview with Playboy, he said he would be ‘incapable of loving a gay son’ and would prefer that son to ‘die in an accident’.
He also appeared in a 2013 interview with Stephen Fry. In that, he said ‘no father is proud of having a gay son’. He further claimed ‘there is no homophobic behavior in Brazil’ and said most homosexual deaths are the results of ‘drug related situations, prostitution, or being killed by their own partner’.
Finally, in another 2011 interview, he said children adopted by gay couples will both be gay themselves and also abused by the couple.
Brazil’s general election will take place in October.
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