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MaddowBlog-Bolsonaro's conviction in Brazil proves that former presidents can be held accountable [View all]
After Brazil convicted its former president who tried to launch a coup, scholars concluded, “Brazilian democracy is healthier today than America’s."
Trump’s turn is coming.
— @jimrissmiller.bsky.social 2025-09-14T18:22:26.974Z
Bolsonaro’s conviction in Brazil proves that former presidents can be held accountable www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
Donald Trump and his administration have already taken steps to punish Brazil for trying to hold Bolsonaro accountable, and as Reuters reported, the Republican team responded to the former president’s conviction in a predictable way.
To date, no one from the Trump administration has explained why, exactly, anyone should see the case against Bolsonaro as a “witch hunt” or why the outcome was “unjust.” By all appearances, the American president sees the former Brazilian leader as a like-minded ally, and as such, the White House sees the case against him as necessarily unwarranted......
As regular readers might recall, all kinds of democracies have held criminal suspects accountable — even if they’re politically powerful, and even if they served in government at the highest levels.
Italy prosecuted a former prime minister. France prosecuted a former president and a former prime minister. South Africa prosecuted a former president. South Korea prosecuted a former president and is in the process of prosecuting another. Israel has prosecuted more than one former prime minister. Germany prosecuted a former president. Portugal prosecuted a former prime minister. Croatia prosecuted a former prime minister. Argentina prosecuted a former president. Austria prosecuted a former chancellor. Pakistan prosecuted a former prime minister.....
With this in mind, two prominent scholars, Johns Hopkins’ Filipe Campante and Harvard’s Steven Levitsky, have a new op-ed in The New York Times reflecting on the bigger picture.
“In both the United States and Brazil, then, elected presidents assaulted democratic institutions, seeking to maintain themselves in power after losing re-election. Both power grabs failed — initially,” they wrote. “But that’s where the two histories diverge. Americans did remarkably little to protect their democracy from the leader who had assaulted it.”
“With all its flaws, Brazilian democracy is healthier today than America’s,” the professors concluded. “Keenly aware of their country’s authoritarian past, Brazil’s judicial and political authorities did not take democracy for granted. Their U.S. counterparts, by contrast, fell down on the job. Rather than undermining Brazil’s effort to defend its democracy, Americans should learn from it.”
Asked about the conviction on Thursday, Trump again praised Bolsonaro, calling the verdict ‘a terrible thing.’ ‘I think it’s very bad for Brazil,’ he added. ... U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X the court had ‘unjustly ruled,’ adding: ‘The United States will respond accordingly to this witch hunt.’
To date, no one from the Trump administration has explained why, exactly, anyone should see the case against Bolsonaro as a “witch hunt” or why the outcome was “unjust.” By all appearances, the American president sees the former Brazilian leader as a like-minded ally, and as such, the White House sees the case against him as necessarily unwarranted......
As regular readers might recall, all kinds of democracies have held criminal suspects accountable — even if they’re politically powerful, and even if they served in government at the highest levels.
Italy prosecuted a former prime minister. France prosecuted a former president and a former prime minister. South Africa prosecuted a former president. South Korea prosecuted a former president and is in the process of prosecuting another. Israel has prosecuted more than one former prime minister. Germany prosecuted a former president. Portugal prosecuted a former prime minister. Croatia prosecuted a former prime minister. Argentina prosecuted a former president. Austria prosecuted a former chancellor. Pakistan prosecuted a former prime minister.....
With this in mind, two prominent scholars, Johns Hopkins’ Filipe Campante and Harvard’s Steven Levitsky, have a new op-ed in The New York Times reflecting on the bigger picture.
“In both the United States and Brazil, then, elected presidents assaulted democratic institutions, seeking to maintain themselves in power after losing re-election. Both power grabs failed — initially,” they wrote. “But that’s where the two histories diverge. Americans did remarkably little to protect their democracy from the leader who had assaulted it.”
“With all its flaws, Brazilian democracy is healthier today than America’s,” the professors concluded. “Keenly aware of their country’s authoritarian past, Brazil’s judicial and political authorities did not take democracy for granted. Their U.S. counterparts, by contrast, fell down on the job. Rather than undermining Brazil’s effort to defend its democracy, Americans should learn from it.”