ABSTRACT
This chapter characterizes Bolsonaro’s response to COVID-19 as a typical populist “crisis performance.” The Brazilian president actively promoted measures that went against the international scientific consensus throughout the pandemic while engaging in a blame game against all who opposed this strategy. The divisive rhetoric toward state governors harmed the federative coordination, resulting in heterogeneous and often disastrous results. Although this populist approach—politicizing the most lethal health crisis of our time—strengthened connections between the president and his most loyal supporters, Bolsonaro has seen his overall popularity erode due to mishandlings in the pandemic that led to more than 500,000 deaths in Brazil.
