Touting his credentials to be Brazil’s ambassador to Washington, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo Bolsonaro on Friday cited his experience of flipping hamburgers in the US as a relevant skill.
“I did an exchange, I fried hamburgers,” the federal lawmaker told reporters, a day after his father said that he was considering appointing him to Brazil’s most important diplomatic posting, sparking accusations of nepotism.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has close ties to the US far-right, also pointed to his role as head of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies’ International Affairs and National Defense Committee as further evidence of his suitability for the job.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Despite being a congressman in the lower house, the third of Jair Bolsonaro’s four sons shadows his father on official trips abroad, including last month’s G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
He accompanied the Brazilian leader to a private meeting with US President Donald Trump during a diplomatic visit to Washington in March.
Eduardo Bolsonaro on Friday met with Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araujo, who he said that “expressed his support” for the appointment.
Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said that his son’s friendship with Trump’s children and his ability to speak English and Spanish made him “the right person” for the job.
Eduardo Bolsonaro turned 35 on Wednesday, Brazil’s minimum legal age for ambassadorships.
However, Jair Bolsonaro added that the decision is up to his son, who would have to resign as a lawmaker and secure approval by the Brazilian Federal Senate.
Eduardo Bolsonaro on Thursday said that he had not yet received a formal offer, but would accept the role.
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, the founder of a far-right movement that Eduardo Bolsonaro joined in February, praised the possible appointment.
Eduardo Bolsonaro would “arrive in the job with the knowledge of the actors, the issues and the opportunities,” Bannon was quoted as saying by Brazilian daily O Estado de S. Paulo.
According to his official resume, Eduardo Bolsonaro participated in a work experience exchange program in the US in 2004 and 2005.
In March, he said on Twitter that when he was younger he had “washed plates with Mexicans and Peruvians in a kitchen surrounded by snow in Maine and Colorado.”
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