Folha's Ombudsman: Bolsonaro is not Trump

247 - Paula Cesarino Costa, the Ombudsman for the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, draws attention to the treatment the media offers to the PSL candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, and vice versa. According to Cesarino, the press has failed to demand more seriousness from the eccentric candidate and, at the same time, to explore factual elements of his biography. The ombudsman argues that Bolsonaro cannot be compared to Trump because the former captain is a professional politician with seven terms in office (very different from Trump, for example). 

Read excerpts from the column by Paula Cesarino Costa, ombudsman of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.: 

"Does presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro have more similarities than differences with US President Donald Trump? Is the Brazilian press repeating the mistakes of the American media? These are questions that are beginning to be answered with the official announcement of candidacies and the intensification of the election campaign." According to journalist Carlos Eduardo Lins da Silva, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at USP (University of São Paulo), there is a risk that the country will fall into the same trap that its American counterparts fell into and from which they have not yet managed to escape.

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Trump has a long history of successes (and some failures) in the business world and no political experience; Bolsonaro has no history of business or even military success. He is a professional politician, elected seven times as a federal deputy, thanks to niche votes. What truly unites them is their supposed disdain for the media. Last week, the US witnessed scenes that heightened concerns about Trump and his allies. With their middle fingers pointed upwards, a small crowd of the president's supporters shouted profanities and hate speech against the press. It was the culmination of hostility that began during the campaign and intensified after Trump declared the media the country's worst enemy.