OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:07 PM – Thursday, March 20, 2025
Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro’s son, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, declared on Tuesday that he would apply for political asylum in the United States.
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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Eduardo’s father, was a “right-wing nationalist and former army captain” of the Liberal Party who served as the 38th president of Brazil — from 2019 to 2022. Despite confusion from Americans, Brazil’s Liberal Party is actually considered a far-right political party. From its foundation in 2006 and until 2019, it was called “the Party of the Republic.”
President Donald Trump previously welcomed the former president of Brazil to the White House on March 19th, 2019.
Congressman Bolsonaro also spoke to One America News‘ Matt Gaetz on March 18th regarding his government’s censorship efforts.
In an interview with CNN Brasil, the Bolsonaro son announced the move. He stated that he will apply for asylum on the grounds that he is the victim of a persecution campaign spearheaded by Alexandre de Moraes, Minister of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF).
“I don’t have a flight back to Brazil. I have to apply for political asylum to the U.S. government,” Bolsonaro told the outlet.
“Brazil is no longer a democracy. It’s not possible for a parliamentarian to lose his passport for what he says. Where is parliamentary immunity?” he continued. “I’m not going to subject myself to this and remain under the thumb of Alexandre de Moraes. I’m taking my leave to represent the interests of my constituents, those who voted for me.”
A group of lawmakers from the ruling Socialist Workers’ Party (PT) publicly asked local authorities to look into Bolsonaro and confiscate his passport in late February for allegedly committing “crimes against sovereignty” and for denouncing the STF.
At the time, Bolsonaro was accused by the left-wing party of “conspiring” with U.S. lawmakers to undermine the Brazilian judiciary.
Shortly after the House Judiciary Committee passed the “No Censors on our Shores Act,” which aims to codify into law “provisions to bar or deport foreign government officials” from the United States — if they engage in official acts that violate Americans’ First Amendment rights, the group made its accusations.
In a video posted on his personal X account just hours before his interview with CNN Brasil, Eduardo Bolsonaro declared that he would take an unpaid leave of absence from Congress in order to focus on pursuing “the appropriate sanctions for those who violate human rights,” referring specifically to de Moraes.
“Here, in the United States of America, I will focus on seeking justice and the proper punishments for Alexandre de Moraes and his FBI destachment [sic] who blindly follow his illegal orders like Gestapo,” Bolsonaro said. “You, jellyfish man, small and vain, are not used to dealing with men of conviction.”
“You thought you could blackmail me with the benefits and privileges of the politics, but you couldn’t have been more wrong,” the congressman added. “The best parliamentarians, those truly called, are not caricatures clinging to bureaucrats’ titles. I ponder and resign to the law of despondence to stay strong to my mission.”
Bolsonaro also argued that everyone in Brazil “knows” that de Moraes is “capable of doing anything, even when it’s clearly illegal or unconstitutional,” in reference to the request to have his passport taken.
He noted that if de Moraes wants to seize his passport “or even arrest me so that I can no longer report his crimes in the United States, then this is precisely where I will stay and work harder than ever.”
Nevertheless, a Brazilian top court justice denied the Workers’ Party lawmakers’ request to seize the congressman’s passport hours after Bolsonaro uploaded the video, citing opposition from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Brazilian body solely in charge of filing charges or asking that an investigation be closed.
“Brazilian Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet argued that the complaint filed by the leftists did not contain the minimum elements to justify opening an investigation,” Breitbart reported.
The conservative former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, stated in an interview with the Brazilian publication Revista Oeste on Tuesday that he would rather see his son free in the United States than subjected to persecution back home.
“I’d rather he was free in the United States than being threatened here in Brazil. And what we try to do, he will have my full support. He can continue,” Bolsonaro said. “Although I’m not in charge of him anymore — he’s 42, 43 years old — but he’s doing an excellent job there and will continue to do an excellent job for us here in Brazil.”
“If the federal deputy who received the most votes in the history of Brazil is forced to choose between exile or prison, this country can no longer be called a democracy,” Bolsonaro said on social media. “When the law gives way to persecution, what we have is open tyranny – and now the whole world is paying attention.”
Following his narrow loss in the 2022 presidential election, former President Bolsonaro was officially accused in February of allegedly planning to organize a “coup” and poison current radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
De Moraes will decide whether Bolsonaro will go to trial on March 25th along with other members of Brazil’s highest court.
Additionally, Jair Bolsonaro stated on Sunday that he had no intention of leaving Brazil in order to evade a potential arrest that the STF had ordered.
Up to 120 days, four months, of leave may be taken by Brazilian lawmakers during a legislative session without affecting their ability to continue serving. According to CNN Brasil, Missionary José Olímpio of the conservative Liberal Party (PL) will take over Eduardo Bolsonaro’s position in the Brazilian House of Representatives if Bolsonaro is missing for more than 120 days.
Portuguese to English translation: “It was probably this speech at CPAC USA, followed by the honorable mention of @realDonaldTrump , that triggered the alert from Moraes, PGR and PT to, together, create the narrative of crime against the country and the whole passport controversy. Nothing happens by chance,” he posted on X.
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