Antagonizing Trump? Uninvited, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Visits Former U.S. President George W. Bush, Not a Trump Fan

By Julio Severo

George W. Bush received an unexpected visit on May 15, 2019. Visiting Dallas, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wanted to talk to the former U.S. president, even though no official invitation was extended to the Brazilian president.

Jair Bolsonaro and George W. Bush

The U.S. mainstream media did not cover the event. BBC covered it, but only in its Portuguese version. BBC confirmed that Bush did not invite Bolsonaro. Nevertheless, Bush said that by courtesy he welcomes visits from foreign high officials.

Bush has been a Trump critic. In fact, all the Bush family has been hostile to Trump — so hostile that even Russian President Vladimir Putin has already defended Trump against Bush.

Such hostility comes from the fact that Trump condemned the Bush-led Iraq War and said that Bush lied. Bush never forgave Trump for this, and the Bush family made it very clear that they did not vote for Trump.

Why, then, would Bolsonaro burst into the middle of a conflict between Bush and Trump? Bush belongs to the neocon wing, who loves wars for every and any reason. So it is no wonder that when prominent neocon John McCain died last year, Trump was not invited, but Bush and Barack Hussein Obama were guests of honor.

So neocons love Bush and Obama, but they are suspicious of Trump. Why then does Bolsonaro want access to neocons through Bush? Does he want a new version of the Iraq War in South America?

Not only Bush had a good relationship with McCain and neocons, but also with left-wingers. In 2014 Bush said famously that former U.S. President Bill Clinton, a left-winger, was his brother. If Bush was conservative, why call pro-abortion and pro-sodomy Clinton a brother?

If in a trip to Brazil Trump visited former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, a left-winger, it would be a bad choice, because Lula and Bolsonaro are not friends. In fact, the BBC report said that Bush had so a good relationship with Lula that the former Brazilian president visited Camp David, a privilege that U.S. presidents give to very few foreign presidents. It is no wonder, considering that Bush has an excellent relationship with left-wingers Obama and Clinton.

One of the reasons for the meeting with Bush was probably that Bolsonaro is surrounded by poor advisers. It is a bad decision to try, even minimally, to antagonize Trump.

If Bolsonaro met Bush because he thought he has not gotten everything with Trump, it’s all his fault. Shortly before meeting Trump in March, Bolsonaro gave at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington a dinner in honor of Steve Bannon, whom Trump called an opportunist and expelled from the White House. Bolsonaro’s poor advisers have not helped him very much.

Antagonizing Trump is a bad step for Bolsonaro. Trying access to neocons is another bad step.

Portuguese version of this article: Antagonizando Trump? Sem convite, Bolsonaro visita o ex-presidente dos EUA George W. Bush, não um fã de Trump

Source: Last Days Watchman

Recommended Reading:

The Transcendent Power of Neoconservatism in the U.S. Media and among Left-Wingers and Right-Wingers

What Is Neoconservatism? Who are the Neocons?

Are Conservatives and Socialists ‘Brothers’? George W. Bush Calls Bill Clinton His ‘Brother’

Bush Criticizes Trump, and Putin Says Trump’s Disrespectful Domestic Foes Haven’t Allowed Him to Fulfill His Plans

“Conservatives” Against “Conservatives”: Brazilian President Bolsonaro Is Called a “Homophobe” by U.S. “Conservative” Fox News