Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has received a deluge of criticism after tweeting an explicit video of a ‘golden shower’ performance at Carnival - and following it up by claiming not to understand the term.
Bolsonaro shared an explicit video on his official Twitter account on Tuesday, said to be taken at Brazil’s annual carnival, in which one man pees on another’s body and hair. The pair appear to be dancing on top of a bus shelter and it isn’t clear if they are performers or just revelers.
Despite claiming he was not comfortable sharing the video, Bolsonaro tweeted it anyway and said: “We have to expose the truth to the population to have knowledge and always take their priorities. This is what has turned many blocks of street in the Brazilian carnival.”
Bolsonaro, who is openly homophobic, appeared to be criticising the annual six-day festival which was held in Brazil this week and is popular with gay people. Many were shocked that a president would post such explicit content with a video that makes President Donald Trump’s most scandalous tweets pale in comparison.
Warning: Contains explicit footage
He received sharp rebukes from social media users who said it was irresponsible of the Brazilian president to share such a graphic video on Twitter, where many children could see it. Others accused Bolsonaro of lashing out at the festival because many attendees protested his presidency at it.
Many, though, were more concerned with his follow-up tweet posted some 12 hours later, which asked: “What is a golden shower?” despite the fact that the video he shared shows a golden shower. Much of the world became more familiar with the term in the wake of reports of Trump’s “pee tape.”
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Bolsonaro’s tweets were received by many Twitter users as the latest expression of his long-running preoccupation with homosexuality.
The Brazilian leader has previously said: “Yes, I’m homophobic and very proud of it,” and that he would rather his son “died in an accident” than be gay. In an interview with Stephen Fry he also claimed “homosexual fundamentalists” were brainwashing children to become gay so they can “satisfy them sexually in the future.”
Within hours of his inauguration in January, he had already instructed his human rights minister to ignore all complaints and violations involving LGBTQ Brazilians.
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