Being in Brazil right now for an American is like being in an alternative universe in which the president of the country plots to overthrow a lawful election and rather than winding up back in power winds up on trial for that attempt.

That's what's happening right now. So I'm going to walk you

through a little history. Bear with me. It's a little complicated, but it's worth it because it shows us

how differently things could have gone in the United States because that's what's happening here

in Brazil. So Jair Bolsonaro, former president of the nation, is on trial right now for a coup.

That's what they're calling it.

Not a protest, not even an insurrection.

They're calling it a coup attempt.

He's the first president to be brought up on these charges since Brazil emerged from a military dictatorship in 1985.

And his trial starts right now with 80 witnesses lined up to testify that he knew about

and in some cases even plotted the overthrow of a duly elected government.

So back in October of 2022, Ignacio Lula da Silva, the current president of Brazil, was elected

and defeated Jayao Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is a, he's a Trump guy.

He's a big, uh, enthusiast of Trump.

He ran on a sort of populist message like Trump did.

And in many ways seems to have taken some of his tactics,

his choreography from Trump, considering the success that Trump has had.

And in doing so, it's really, I mean,

it's uncanny just how similar things are. During COVID under Bolsonaro, there was incredible

misinformation about COVID, spread mostly by Bolsonaro and huge numbers of people amplifying

it online, so much so that Brazil had one of the highest,

you know, had just an incredible death rate, terrible, terrible death rate.

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