Biden faces pressure from the Left on Bolsonaro
Haisten Willis
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The surge of rioting in the capital of Brazil landed, as many issues do, at the feet of President Joe Biden.
The men and women storming government buildings in Brasilia were doing so in support of former President Jair Bolsonaro — who is staying in Florida with his visa status not publicly known. Leaders of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing quickly began calling for Biden to extradite the foreign politician, who has drawn many comparisons to former President Donald Trump.
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“Nearly 2 years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil,” tweeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). “We must stand in solidarity with @LulaOficial’s democratically elected government. The US must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida.”
She was joined by fellow “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
“Two years ago our Capitol was attacked by fanatics, now we are watching it happen in Brazil,” Omar wrote. “Solidarity with [President] Lula and the Brazilian people. Democracies around the world must stand united to condemn this attack on democracy. Bolsonaro should not be given refuge in Florida.”
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) told CNN that “Bolsonaro should not be in Florida. … He should be sent back to Brazil.”
Bolsonaro is often compared to Trump, earning himself the nickname “Trump of the tropics.” The riots themselves, which bore a strong resemblance to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, furthered this narrative.
Thus, Biden faces strong pressure to act, especially from the Left.
It’s unclear exactly how Bolsonaro is staying in suburban Orlando, where he has been spotted wandering a Publix grocery store and eating KFC, but several experts believe he’s in the country on an A-1 visa, which is reserved for heads of state and other government officials and thus would have expired on Dec. 31, Bolsonaro’s last day in office.
So far, the Biden administration has taken no public action toward removing Bolsonaro. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner, while the State Department sent a statement reading, “Visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.”
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the Biden administration was not in direct contact with Bolsonaro and had not received requests from the Brazilian government related to him. If Bolsonaro returns to Brazil, he could face criminal charges, though none have been issued.
“We are careful about not speaking about individual visa cases in public and certainly not from the White House,” he said.
But behind the scenes, officials are looking at ways they can spur Bolsonaro to leave the U.S., Bloomberg reported. Moves could include asking him to leave or canceling his visa.
The calls from Biden’s Left to take strong action echo similar circumstances on a range of issues that have cropped up since he took office two years ago. The president attempted to extend the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium after facing pressure from Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), and his student loans forgiveness program was largely seen as a concession to the party’s leftward flank.
Just this weekend, Biden attempted another triangulation of sorts with his visit to the southern border. On the thorny topic of immigration, he’s trying to project that enforcement is legitimate while carving out a position that’s mostly pro-immigrant.
The president has condemned the events in Brazil without mentioning Bolsonaro by name.
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“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,” he said in a statement. “Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”
For now, it remains unclear if or when the Biden administration will take action to remove Bolsonaro, who has condemned the attacks himself. The former Brazilian politician was admitted to the hospital on Monday after complaining of abdominal pain.