‘Lies in the media’: Bolsonaro’s son lashes out at reports, says Brazil president’s coronavirus test NOT yet complete

Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has accused the media of peddling “too much lies and little information,” after a report claimed the Brazilian leader tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus.

UPDATE: Brazil’s Bolsonaro says he tested NEGATIVE for Covid-19 despite reports

After Bolsonaro’s press secretary Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for the virus on Thursday, the Brazilian president entered self-isolation and was tested for the deadly illness himself. With the final results still outstanding, Brazilian newspaper O Dia reported on Friday that preliminary results showed Bolsonaro infected.

As the news spread, Eduardo Bolsonaro accused the media of spreading “too much lies and little information.” The younger Bolsonaro did not outright deny the report, but said that the examinations were not yet completed.

“There are always those people who tell lies in the media and if the story is confirmed they say ‘I told you!’, if not will be just 1 more fake news,” he added.

O Dia’s report cited a source within the presidential palace, and was taken up by international news outlets within minutes. Despite his tweet, Fox News claimed that Eduardo Bolsonaro had confirmed the news to the network, adding that results from a second round of testing would be available later on Friday.

Neither of Eduardo Bolsonaro’s statements directly rejected the claim that a first test came back positive. Instead, they suggest that an official announcement will not be made until the results from the second examination are known.

When the results became clear, Eduardo told Fox News in an interview that “the test is negative.”

Backing Bolsonaro, Brazilian journalist Leonardo Coutinho noted that while “the chances are high” that the president was exposed to the coronavirus, O Dia appears to be calling the diagnosis prematurely, adding that “betting beforehand is a big risk.”

Both Bolsonaro and Wajngarten met with US President Donald Trump in Florida last Saturday, four days before Wajngarten was diagnosed with Covid-19. Fox News reported that an emergency meeting of White House officials has been called in Washington on Friday, but Trump himself seemed unbothered a day earlier, telling reporters he had “no plans” of being tested for the virus.

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