Donald Trump’s pal in Brazil may have just bitten the dust

| 10:57 pm EDT October 2, 2022
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There’s this ridiculous but popular notion that the more egregiously a corrupt right wing leader behaves, the more powerful it makes him. We heard this narrative constantly while Donald Trump was in office, but his deranged antics only served to help him lose reelection by seven million votes. And now that Vladimir Putin has spent this year being more villainous than ever, he’s put himself in the weakest position he’s ever been in.

Now we’re seeing yet another deranged right wing leader on the verge of taking a fall. Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, just lost the first round of his reelection bid by about 5 points. There will be a runoff at the end of this month, but today’s results suggest that Bolsonaro is likely to lose the runoff as well. This would install a leftist President in Brazil, and mark the end of Bolsonaro’s disastrously corrupt reign.

This serves as a reminder that when a right wing leader becomes even more villainous than ever, it does not mean that he’s somehow more powerful than ever. Often that leader is merely making himself vulnerable by trying to exceed his own grasp.

This is also a timely reminder that, for instance, Ron DeSantis’ increasingly deranged antics in Florida do not somehow make him more powerful. If anything he’s sabotaging his own prospects by going far beyond what any moderate voter can stomach. Nor is Donald Trump somehow making himself more powerful by saying increasingly deranged things on his way to indictment. Trump is just stabbing in the dark on his way down. For that matter, Trump’s recent endorsement of his pal Bolsonaro didn’t appear to help Bolsonaro at all. These guys don’t have magic wands.