Tucker Carlson Backs Jair Bolsonaro, Blasts Brazil's 'Rigged Election'

Fox News host Tucker Carlson slammed Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's election victory against far-right rival Jair Bolsonaro in November, saying that millions of people in the country "know that their democracy has been hijacked."

Speaking on his show on Monday amid the violence in Brazil from Bolsanaro supporters demanding that the election result be overturned and that Lula gets sent to jail, Carlson said: "Thanks to what was very clearly a rigged election, a convicted criminal called Lula da Silva is now president of the most important country in South America."

In 2017, da Silva, who is known as Lula, was convicted on charges of money laundering and corruption and was sentenced to nine and half years in prison. A Supreme Court judge annulled the convictions in March 2021, allowing him to run for president again.

Carlson claimed that the November 2022 election was rigged, without providing any evidence. Although Bolsonaro has often indicated that he believes the election results were fraudulent, he has not provided any evidence, and in the days following the vote, Brazil's defense ministry found no evidence of election fraud.

"Millions of people in Brazil understand exactly what happened," Carlson continued. "They know that their democracy has been hijacked possibly forever but there's not much they can do about that.

"Lula may be a criminal, in fact he is, but he has the full support of both the Biden administration and the Chinese government. So yesterday, in frustration, a group of Brazilian protesters swarmed their legislator," Carlson added, before showing a video of the rioting.

Newsweek reached out to the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

On Sunday, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and Presidential Palace in scenes reminiscent of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot in the U.S.

Photos and videos circulating online show throngs of Bolsonaro supporters running through the buildings, many waving Brazilian flags, only a week after Lula was inaugurated. Some footage shows pro-Bolsonaro protesters forcing their way into the buildings and destroying furniture inside of Congress, which was not in session. Lula was also not in the Presidential Palace at the time.

After touring the wreckage, Lula vowed to punish "neo-fascists" and anyone involved in the violence. Police have arrested more than 400 people in connection with the riot. Unrest has also flared up in other cities across Brazil, including in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, with people protesting for and against the rioters.

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is in Florida, having reportedly flown to America at the end of December.