WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump defended former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday in a social media post that said his former ally was the victim of a “witch hunt,” a term Trump has used to describe his own treatment by political opponents.
Bolsonaro, who was friendly with Trump when they were both in office, is on trial in Brazil on charges of plotting a coup to stop Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.
“The only Trial that should be happening is a Trial by the Voters of Brazil — It’s called an Election. LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE!” Trump wrote on social media.
In March, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case against Bolsonaro and seven other people, including several military officers, who were charged with plotting a coup to stop Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.
Last month, Bolsonaro denied that he led an attempt to overthrow the government during his trial before the country’s Supreme Court, but acknowledged taking part in meetings aimed at reversing the outcome.
Bolsonaro said he and senior aides discussed alternatives to accepting the electoral results, including the possibility of deploying military forces and suspending some civil liberties, but he said those proposals were soon dropped.
The charges stem from a two-year police investigation into the election-denying movement that culminated in riots by Bolsonaro supporters in the capital in early 2023, a week after Lula took office.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Marguerita Choy)
