This July 24 in the morning, the Maracanãzinho is a green and gold cauldron. Ten thousand have filled this “little Maracanã”, a vast gymnasium adjoining the mythical stadium of Rio de Janeiro. Dressed in the jerseys of the Seleção, Brazil’s national football team, the crowd comes to attend an important event: the launch of the campaign of Jair Bolsonaro, candidate for his re-election in the presidential election on October 2. Ministers, generals, pastors, politicians and far-right activists, all responded to the call of the “captain of the people”, as he describes himself.
However, on this crucial day, it is not he who bursts the screen, but “her”: Michelle Bolsonaro, the wife of the head of state. Dressed in an elegant mint dress with a Brazilian flag slung over her shoulder, she then delivered a fiery speech. “ Bolsonaro, an envoy of God! He has a pure heart… and he is a handsome man! », she harangues, her finger pointing skyward. The crowd exults, applauds, asks for more… The first lady stole the show from her president husband.
But who is “Michelle”, as the Brazilians call her? This outstanding orator, fervent evangelical, is now in all the meetings and all the TV spots, speaking alongside her husband in this furiously disputed campaign. A meteoric rise for this 40-year-old woman (twenty-seven younger than her husband), who seems so reserved and shy, but who has actually played a leading role with the president of ‘far right.
“Grace Kelly of the Tropics”
For a long time, Michelle Bolsonaro was only a vague silhouette in the shadow of her husband. A short haircut, big black eyes, an athletic bearing. She takes care of her appearance, likes to wear designer dresses: the one in pink sable with bare shoulders on the day of the investiture earned her, for a time, the nickname of “Grace Kelly of the tropics”. She is a fan of gyms and operating tables. Her plastic surgeon, who fitted her with breast prostheses and corrected abdominal distension due to her pregnancies, is a friend of the family. We invite him to weekend barbecues.
At all costs, she seeks to soften the image of her boorish husband. This one is not afraid to add more when it comes to praising the “attributes” of his wife, and his own in passing. In 2019, during the huge fires in the Amazon, a user posted a photo montage on Facebook comparing the physique of Brigitte Macron and Michelle Bolsonaro, twenty-nine years younger than the wife of the French president. “Do you understand now why Macron is persecuting Bolsonaro? », the legend has fun. Comment from Bolsonaro, who responds live on the social network: “Don’t humiliate her, man. Hahahaha. »
You have 84.59% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.