President Bolsonaro condemns apology for Nazism

President Jair Bolsonaro made a series of posts on social media on Wednesday night (Feb. 9) to repudiate Nazi ideology and its spread in the country. 

"The Nazi ideology must be repudiated in an unrestricted and permanent way, without reservations that allow its flourishing, as well as any and all totalitarian ideology that jeopardizes the fundamental rights of peoples and individuals, such as the right to life and liberty", he wrote.

His message was a consequence of the repercussion of a speech by youtuber Bruno Aiub, known as Monark, defending the existence of a Nazi party in Brazil.

On Monday night (Feb. 7), on Flow podcast, Monark suggested that the Nazis should have a legally recognized political party in Brazil. The comment has led to negative reactions from several sectors of society.

The following day, commentator Adrilles Jorge, from TV Jovem Pan News, discussed the repercussion of Monark’s case and ended his program with a Sieg Heil gesture - a Nazi greeting that means “long live victory” in German. The case has viralized on the Internet and the TV station decided to fire the commentator.

In a series of posts, Bolsonaro said that it is necessary to fight demonstrations that preach anti-Semitism and demanded responsibility and seriousness when treating the issue.

"The fact that a repugnant ideology - such as the Nazi - has destroyed millions of lives requires that we have extreme responsibility and seriousness when dealing with the issue, leaving no room for slander, defamation and its trivialization. You can't fight injustice with injustices," he wrote.

The president also expressed solidarity towards the Jewish people and highlighted Brazil’s rapprochement with Israel.

"I reiterate our support for the Jewish people, who still suffer not only from the scars left by history, but also from the disrespect of those who trivialize such a serious issue, labeling everything and everyone in the eagerness to conquer even more power and control over people."

Bolsonaro also emphasized that Brazil will not be fertile ground for the proliferation of totalitarian ideologies.

“Brazil will never have fertile soil for totalitarianism because the love for freedom runs in our veins. Anyone who wants the opposite is on the wrong side. May we use this moment to become mature, to think about what kind of environment we want to create for Brazil. Let's all have more sense and responsibility. We need to keep working for the future of our nation."

Other side

According to a note released on Wednesday (8), Flow Studios reported that the podcast in question was removed from the air and that youtuber Monark had been fired. 

Flow Studios also stated to have a commitment to democracy and human rights, regretting what happened. "We apologize particularly to the Jewish community, and to all people. We repudiate any kind of position that may hurt, ignore or question the existence of someone or a society."

Monark posted a video on his Twitter account in which he says he has made a mistake; he apologizes and claims he was “very drunk” at the time.

TV commentator Adrilles Jorge complained about the accusations and said he feels like being the target of a “cancel culture.” “The insanity of cancellers has crossed the line of madness. After my vehement speech against any defense of Nazism, a goodbye is interpreted as a Nazi greeting", he wrote on Twitter. Hours later, he published a video in which he justified that the gesture made in the air would only be a farewell to the program.

In the note which reported Adrilles’ dismissal, TV Jovem Pan said it repudiates any demonstration in defense of Nazism and its ideas.

"We are vehemently against the persecution of any group for ethnic, religious, racial or sexual reasons. In our daily exercise of informing and enlightening our audience, we value the free debate of ideas, but we do not endorse any type of demonstration that leads to hate speech and reinforce ideas that refer to an episode in our history that must be remembered as a symbol of a mistake of humanity that shall never be repeated".