Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had a brief physical altercation with a YouTuber who had previously provoked and insulted him. A video posted by the Brazilian news portal “G1” on Thursday shows how Bolsonaro, who was on the campaign trail, took selfies for the first time with his supporters in front of the presidential residence in the capital, Brasilia.
Then the YouTuber identified by “G1” as Walker Liao began asking critical questions of the president and filming himself. Then someone who did not appear in the recordings threw Leão to the ground, at which point the main YouTuber called a series of insults such as “a coward” and “a hobo”.
Bolsonaro, who had already got in his car, got down and ran towards Liao with the words “Come here, I want to talk to you,” and tried to grab his cell phone, grabbed his shirt and then his arm with both hands. The security guards quickly intervened and led Liao away. Minutes later, the opponents – separated from the guards – had a short conversation.
Bolsonaro and his rival Luis Inacio Lula da Silva kicked off their official campaign for the October presidential election on Tuesday. Opinion polls see former leftist President Lula ahead of the incumbent.
In a new poll by opinion research institute Datafolha, 76-year-old Lula hit 47 percent, and 67-year-old Bolsonaro hit 32 percent. The right-wing president was able to reduce the difference with his opponent by three points compared to the previous month. If neither candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the first ballot on October 2, there will be a run-off on October 30.
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