President Donald Trump and the global far right rushed on Monday to congratulate
Jair Bolsonaro, the authoritarian former army captain who won Brazil’s presidential election this weekend after promising to “cleanse” the country of his political opponents and give police “carte blanche” to kill people suspected of crimes.
Trump tweeted that he had a “very good conversation” with Bolsonaro and an “exciting call,” noting that Bolsonaro won by a large margin. Those remarks echoed far-right leaders in countries such as Germany, France and Italy who voiced their support for Bolsonaro.