Photo: Ricardo Stuckert PR
President Lula (photo) and American Joe Biden remembered the events of January 8, 2023 and January 6, 2021, respectively, in basically the same way: He portrays his political rivals as a major threat to democracy.
But what is at stake goes far beyond a threat to the democratic rule of law in Brazil and the United States. What Lula and Biden want is to convince everyone that they are still indispensable in politics and that they must therefore win the right to reelection. On the other hand, if the Brazilian and American people understand that there is no threat, then it would be pointless to vote again for someone who positions himself as a defender of democracy.
In his January 5 speech commemorating the threeyear invasion of the Capitol in Washington, he said: Biden quoted Donald Trump 44 times.
“The Trump mob was not a peaceful protest. It was a violent attack. They were rebels, not patriots. They weren't there to defend the Constitution; They were there to destroy the Constitution. Trump will not do what an American president is supposed to do. He refuses to denounce political violence. So hear me clearly. I will say what Donald Trump won't say. Political violence is never acceptable in the United States political system never, ever, ever. It has no place in a democracy. None,” Biden said.