Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman and a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, mentioned on Tuesday that he would search political asylum in the USA, claiming he’s the goal of persecution for defending the right-wing motion embodied by his father.
The third-oldest son of the previous Brazilian president has been in the USA since late February, simply as Brazil’s Supreme Court docket started weighing whether or not to grab his passport over accusations that he tried to intrude within the case involving his father’s alleged position in a coup plot after the older man misplaced the 2022 election.
Mr. Bolsonaro, 40, mentioned in a video posted on social media that he supposed to stay in the USA and step again from his position as a federal lawmaker. Mr. Bolsonaro has shut ties with the Trump household and has visited President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence and membership.
Mr. Bolsonaro additionally denounced a Supreme Court docket justice, Alexandre de Moraes, for focusing on him. Justice de Moraes has been overseeing the felony case towards Jair Bolsonaro.
“If Alexandre de Moraes needs to grab my passport and even arrest me in order that I can now not report his crimes in the USA, then that is exactly the place I’ll keep and work more durable than ever,” the youthful Mr. Bolsonaro mentioned within the video.
After the video was printed, Brazil’s prime prosecutor mentioned he was not looking for Mr. Bolsonaro’s passport.
Mr. Bolsonaro didn’t clarify when he would request asylum. The White Home didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The announcement by Mr. Bolsonaro comes days earlier than Brazil’s Supreme Court docket is to resolve whether or not to place his father on trial on expenses that he oversaw an enormous plot to subvert the nation’s democracy after the 2022 election, which he lost.
Brazilian prosecutors say the plot included plans to annul the vote, disband courts and assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who gained the vote. The older Mr. Bolsonaro has referred to as the costs politically motivated.
Eduardo Bolsonaro mentioned his father ran the danger of being “unjustly imprisoned” by the Supreme Court docket, which has lengthy been seen as an enemy by Brazil’s conservative motion, and drew a parallel between his father and Mr. Trump’s personal authorized troubles.
“I’ve little question that our enemies’ plan is to incarcerate him, to assassinate him in jail or go away him there endlessly, simply as would have occurred with Donald Trump if he had not been re-elected in 2024,” he mentioned within the video.
Mr. Trump’s media firm has sued Justice Moraes, accusing him of illegally censoring right-wing voices on social media.