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Bannon's Big 'Stolen Election' Lies Incited Fascist Attack On Brazil Capital

Bannon's Big 'Stolen Election' Lies Incited Fascist Attack On Brazil Capital

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has spent more than two months denying the results of last year’s Brazilian presidential election, helping to lay the groundwork for the attacks on government buildings over the weekend carried out by supporters of defeated former President Jair Bolsonaro. The mob violence from Bolsonaro’s supporters bore a striking resemblance to the attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol two years ago, which Bannon also helped to foment.

The day after the pro-Bolsonaro, anti-democracy riot, Bannon defended the protesters’ perceived grievances on his War Room podcast. “The key is legitimacy, you must show you are legitimate,” Bannon said. “There were millions and millions — tens of millions of people in the street, working class people, and particularly … Evangelical Christians that are not prepared to sit there and let an atheistic, Marxist, communist criminal like Lula steal the election and steal their country.”

Bannon has been questioning the legitimacy of the Brazilian election process since former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, was declared the winner on October 30. In the immediate aftermath of Bolsonaro’s loss, Bannon baselessly claimed on his podcast that the vote totals couldn’t be trusted and urged Bolsonaro to fight on. He was frequently joined by Matthew Tyrmand, a conservative activist who has claimed to discover mathematical anomalies that call the Brazilian election results into question. (An analysis from the Brazilian military did not find evidence of fraud in the election.)

Despite Bannon’s pleas, Bolsonaro ultimately acknowledged the results on November 2, 2022, although he didn’t technically concede. In late December, Bolsonaro traveled to Florida, where he remains, while still facing mounting investigations in his home country.

Bannon and Tyrmand continued to cast doubt on the vote totals even after Bolsonaro had at least nominally accepted defeat. On November 3, Bannon invited Tyrmand on War Room to discuss the pro-Bolsonaro street protests following his electoral defeat. “The piece was amazing,” Bannon said, referring to an article Tyrmand had recently published. “You can see how they stole this.”

The pro-Bolsonaro forces are “up against a transnational criminal class that has both partnerships with the party of Davos, the World Economic Forum, and the Chinese Communist Party. That’s what’s trying to take over Brazil,” Bannon continued. Those remarks echoed an argument also put forward by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson claiming that the CCP is using Lula to turn Brazil into a de facto Chinese colony.

“What you see in the streets is the people of Brazil saying, ‘We don’t want that,’” Bannon concluded.

Tyrmand then speculated about a military audit in the case of fraud, “which you and I certainly believe there is, based on what we’ve seen with our own eyes,” he told Bannon.


Later that month, Tyrmand returned to the show to discuss the ongoing protests, which he described as “the largest street demonstrations in human history.”

“This brings back memories of the people in the streets fighting Soviet communism in the late ‘80s, when the Berlin Wall was coming down,” Tyrmand claimed. “You know what, this is orders of magnitude bigger.”

“It’s the Brazilian Spring,” Bannon added.

Tyrmand then claimed that social media posts showed voting machines had been improperly transported from their storage areas and insinuated that it was evidence of potential tampering or fraud.

“The election was stolen,” Bannon replied.

Two days later, Tyrmand again appeared on War Room to cast further doubt about the vote totals.

“People know they’ve been defrauded, they know that the mathematics behind what the machines demonstrated is patently ludicrous, it doesn’t pass any empirical analytical test when you know people all over the country voted for Bolsonaro,” he said.

Tyrmand was back on Bannon’s show in early December, describing the Bolsonaristas as “Constitutionalists” who “believe in the peaceful process and transitions of power.” He then expressed his hope that “the military will do their job that’s afforded them in the Constitution” and carry out an audit of the election results.

Bannon also regularly denied the results of the Brazilian election on his Gettr account. On November 2, he referred to the rolling unrest in the country as the “beginning of a Brazilian Spring,” a phrase he would repeat in the coming days.

The same day, as right-wing figures promoted the idea of a military audit that they hoped would change the results of the election, Bannon appeared to endorse a military coup. “The Military Represents,” he wrote alongside a video of camouflaged trucks driving through the streets.

On November 3, he shared a New York Times article reporting on the Bolsonaristas who wanted the military to intervene. “The People of Brazil will not tolerate the Globalist and the CCP stealing their country,” he wrote.

Later that month, Bannon called Lula a “transnational criminal” who “stole the Brazilian election,” describing it as “very clear.”

Even as it became increasingly obvious that Bolsonaro had no chance to return to power, Bannon kept the drumbeat going. “The People of Brazil will not tolerate a godless atheist Marxist like Lula to takeover illegally and destroy their country,” Bannon wrote on Christmas Eve.

Then on January 8, as the pro-Bolsonaro riot was commencing in Brazil’s capital, Bannon repeatedly posted on Gettr that “Lula stole the election” and referred to the insurrectionists as “Brazilian Freedom Fighters.”

Just as in the January 6 insurrection, the anti-democratic forces in Brazil were unsuccessful in changing the results of an election they lost. For Bannon, it’s yet another recent failure.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Santos Admitted Using 'Stolen Checks' During 2008 Visit To Brazil

Santos Admitted Using 'Stolen Checks' During 2008 Visit To Brazil

In his congressional district in Queens and Long Island, Jewish activists have been calling for Rep. George Santos to resign from Congress following reports that during his 2022 campaign, he falsely claimed that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Santos, according to the New York Times, also lied about everything from his education to his work history. Regardless, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has rushed to Santos’ defense, chastising former Democrat turned Fox News pundit Tulsi Gabbard for asking him tough questions during an appearance on Fox News.

Santos has been inundated with bad publicity in late 2022 and early 2023. Now, CNN is reporting that in 2008, the New York City Republican “used stolen checks to make purchases” in Brazil.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who is Rep. George Santos?

Ans: Rep. George Santos is a Republican politician from New York City who is currently serving in Congress.

What are the allegations against Rep. George Santos?

Ans: Rep. George Santos has been accused of falsely claiming that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors, lying about his education and work history, and using stolen checks to make purchases in Brazil in 2008.

Why are people calling for Rep. George Santos to resign?

Ans:Many Jewish activists in Rep. George Santos' congressional district in Queens and Long Island have called for him to resign following the allegations against him.

In an article published by CNN’s website on January 4, reporters Anne Claire Stapleton, Julia Vargas Jones and Marcia Reverdosa explain that Santos “admitted to stealing a man’s checkbook that was in his mother’s possession to purchase clothing and shoes in 2008, according to documents obtained by CNN.” The journalists add, “The admission came in a statement Santos gave to police in 2010, according to 150 pages worth of case documents.”

Brazilian law enforcement officials, according to the CNN reporters, “suspended an investigation into Santos because they were unable to find him for nearly a decade” but announced, on January 3, that they “will reinstate fraud charges against the New York Republican.”

Stapleton, Jones and Reverdosa report that “Santos used stolen checks to make purchases at a shop in Niterói, a city outside of Rio de Janeiro on June 17, 2008, according to court documents,” adding, “When making the purchase, he used an ID card with the checkbook owner’s name and a picture of himself, according to police documents.”

Although Santos grew up in the United States, his parents were immigrants from Brazil. Santos’ grandparents also lived in Brazil, but according to the New York Times, records show that his grandparents on his mother’s side weren’t, as he claimed, Holocaust survivors who fled to Brazil from Europe to escape the Nazis — both of them, according to records examined by the Times, were born in Brazil.

Stapleton, Jones and Reverdosa report, “Brazilian authorities, having now verified Santos’ location, will make a formal request to the U.S. Justice Department to notify Santos of the charges, Maristela Pereira, a spokeswoman for the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor’s office, told CNN. The prosecutor’s office told CNN the request will be filed upon reopening on Friday, (January 6).”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

#Endorse This: John Oliver Warns About That 'Trump Clone' In Brazil

#Endorse This: John Oliver Warns About That 'Trump Clone' In Brazil

Last Week Tonight's John Oliver took aim at a "Trump clone" who threatens the future of the world.

Oliver was tagging Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who pursues far-right policies while quite literally encouraging the relentless destruction of Amazon rainforests. Bolsonaro's challenger, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva or Lula, as he is affectionately known appears to be ahead in the polls and likely to win.

Yet many Brazilians fear that Bolsonaro, imitating Trump may not accept election results and even refuse to give up power. Oliver noted a troubling difference between the United States and Brazil, which is a former military dictatorship.

“Luckily for us,” Oliver said, “Trump’s allies were generally limited to a shirtless man in a fur hat, a perpetually hoarse pillow baron, and some of his dumber children. But Bolsonaro has significant military support…. Generally, when someone threatens democracy, it’s a lot easier to say, ‘You and what army?’ when you’re absolutely certain that person doesn’t have an actual army behind them.”

Funny and scary -- just click to watch.


Boycott! Bring Brazil’s Bolsonaro To Heel

Boycott! Bring Brazil’s Bolsonaro To Heel

The most predictable thing about authoritarian government is that it will eventually exceed our worst expectations. With Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right president of Brazil, we didn’t have to wait long. Not only has the Brazilian president failed to protect the Amazon rainforest but he also seems madly determined to destroy that most vital planetary resource.

The only pertinent question now is what the rest of us will do about his ongoing depredations — and about him.

Amid the wave of extremists swept to power in recent years, Bolsonaro was among the most repellent even before this literal firestorm struck. He rose from obscurity by fomenting hatred against Brazil’s indigenous minorities, gay Brazilians and feminists. He despises democracy and speaks fondly of the military dictatorships that long oppressed his own country and its neighbors. Indeed, he openly admires their barbaric history of torture and mass murder.

So nobody should be surprised that this deformed character would oversee violent destruction in the Amazon basin. His presidential campaign emphasized the massive development of agribusiness in previously protected lands as well as the breaching of indigenous preserves — all to serve the interests of his rural political base. He threatened repeatedly to pull Brazil out of the Paris climate accord and appointed as foreign minister an eccentric bureaucrat who thinks climate change is a “conspiracy by cultural Marxists” to limit growth.

Bolsonaro’s own response to the record number of rainforest fires this year is appalling: He dismissed a space agency official who revealed the extent of the inferno; he repudiated data that proved increased burning as “lies”; and he accused nonprofit organizations of setting the Amazon fires to make him look bad. His record of paranoia and deception has won him the admiration of President Donald Trump, who praises him frequently.

Before Bolsonaro took office, Brazil had notched important achievements in protecting the Amazon, encouraging renewable energy and reducing its carbon emissions. Years of progressive policy initiatives had reduced deforestation by as much as 80 percent, while the Brazilian transportation and energy sectors increasingly relied on wind, solar and ethanol. But the new government is eager to snuff out all such hopeful trends.

Over the past several months — well before intense conflagration engulfed the Amazon — European governments had sought to discourage Bolsonaro’s most destructive impulses by threatening to withhold aid and trade. His response has been defiant; he told the Norwegians to take their aid and “reforest Germany” with it.

That isn’t his worst idea — planting tens of billions of trees should be a top priority for every government — but it is also beside the point. Preserving the rainforests that remain is the only way to ensure an inhabitable planet.

With a fascistic thug holding Earth by the throat, it is tempting to imagine more forceful solutions. But a military incursion against Brazil’s sovereignty would undoubtedly polarize small and large nations and provoke cries of imperialism. Indeed, Bolsonaro complains incessantly about the “colonialism” supposedly imposed by environmental leaders, even as he invites major U.S. financial outfits like the Blackstone Group to profit from destructive development in the Amazon. Of course, it is the less developed countries that will suffer the most immediate consequences of climate change.

What can be done about this flashpoint of environmental crisis? Nations led by sane politicians — a category that sadly doesn’t include the United States today — should exert maximum diplomatic and economic pressure on Bolsonaro’s regime. Members of the European Union should continue to use the Mercosur trade agreement, which will include Brazil, to leverage his cooperation on dousing the fires.

Public sentiment in Europe and the United States is powerfully aroused by the footage of burned forest. Brazil can defy global opinion only at significant risk to its economy.

If the fate of future trade agreements is not enough to persuade Bolsonaro, then the threat of an international boycott may yet concentrate his tiny mind. The Brazilian president’s agribusiness allies already have confessed a deep fear of consumer action against their companies. They know that activists everywhere are urging people to shun Brazilian products. Now those capitalists should pull his leash very hard to put the fires out immediately and keep them extinguished.

Democratic values and environmental sanity both will be well served by bringing Bolsonaro to heel. He has certainly earned it.

To find out more about Joe Conason and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

IMAGE: Smoke rising from fires in the Amazon rainforest.