Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday threatened to stab a reporter in the face for questioning payments to his wife’s bank accounts in connection with proven family corruption.
Bolsonaro’s remark was recorded on audio by the Brazilian daily O Globo after one of its reporters asked the president about deposits made in the bank accounts of his wife, First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro, reported by one of his son’s former employees Reuters.
AMAZON continues to burn in 2020 with WILDFIRES BOOKING PROMISES TO SAVE IT
“I want to hit you in the face, OK?” Bolsonaro responded to the reporter, according to audio released by the paper.
Earlier this month, local media reported Fabricio Queiroz, a former caretaker of Bolsonaro’s eldest son, now sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, deposited 72,000 Brazilian rice ($ 12,812) in the first lady’s bank accounts between 2011 and 2018. The younger Bolsonaro had been a state legislator at the time.
Bolsonaro on Sunday threatened to stab a reporter in the face after a question about proven family corruption. (REUTERS / Adriano Machado, File)
Queiroz has been under house arrest while conducting an investigation into bank deposits of 1.2 million reais ($ 213,500) made during that time.
The allegations have been problematic for the older Bolsonaro, who was elected on an anti-crime-and-corruption platform.
PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL SETS JOURNALIST HAS A ‘HOMOSEXUAL’S FACE’ AT HEATED PRESS CONFERENCE
In December, Bolsonaro shrugged off a journalist and said he had a ‘gay face’ on questions about the allegations of corruption involving his son at a heated news conference.
After Bolsonaro’s last remark, a campaign on social media saw journalists and citizens tweetje the reporter’s question to the President.
Bolsonaro has already faced criticism for downplaying the coronavirus pandemic, calling COVID-19 a ‘small flu’ and calling for a reopening of the country’s economy.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Brazil has the second-highest death toll and the number of infections in the world behind the United States, with at least 114,744 deaths and more than 3,605,700 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Louis Casiano of Fox News contributed to this report.
