Rubio Vows to ‘Respond’ After Brazilian Supreme Court Sentences Bolsonaro to 27 Years

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Thursday’s conviction of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro a “witch hunt,” and vowed that the U.S. would “respond accordingly” to the decision.

Hours after Brazil’s Supreme Court found Bolsonaro guilty of planning to overturn the country’s 2022 election, a plot that included discussions of assassinating the president-elect, the high court sentenced him to 27 years and three months in prison.

Rubio did not elaborate on what a potential U.S. response might look like but called out the judge overseeing the case by name.

“The political persecutions by sanctioned human rights abuser Alexandre de Moraes continue, as he and others on Brazil’s supreme court have unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro,” Rubio wrote on X.

The court ruled 3-2 on Thursday that Bolsonaro was guilty on five counts, including plotting a coup, taking part in an armed criminal organization, attempting to abolish Brazil’s democratic order by force, committing violent acts against state institutions and damaging protected public property during the storming of government buildings by his supporters.

“The government wanted to remain in power by simply ignoring democracy — and that is what constitutes a coup d’état,” Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who was also named as a potential assassination target, said Tuesday from the bench, according to The Washington Post. “The leader of the criminal group made it clear — publicly and in his own words — that he would never accept defeat at the ballot, a democratic loss in the elections and that he would never abide by the will of the people.”

Many analysts have noted the similarities between Bolsonaro’s coup attempt and U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Like Trump, Bolsonaro refuted the results of his election loss, spreading a myth of rigged elections and encouraging a mob of supporters to storm Brazil’s capital. The country’s congress, however, was not in session at the time.

The former Brazilian leader is close to Trump, who has reliably defended him throughout the years-long prosecution.

“I watched that trial and I know him pretty well,” Trump told reporters after the verdict. “I thought he was a good president of Brazil and it’s very surprising that that could happen.”

“It’s very much like they tried to do with me but they couldn’t get away with it,” Trump continued.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Florida Republican, was quick to join the Trump administration in its defense of Bolsonaro, making multiple social media posts about the convicted former president and calling him a “political prisoner.”

“Today, democracy in #Brasil went dark with the indictment of the opposition leader, former president Jair Bolsonaro,” Gimenez wrote in Spanish. “They did to Bolsonaro what they wanted to do to President Trump.”

“I hope that the Brazilian people can recover their freedom,” he continued.

In July, Trump announced economic sanctions against Brazil in an attempt to place diplomatic pressure on the prosecutors handling Bolsonaro’s trial.

A 50% tariff was placed on Brazilian goods entering the country, and Moraes, who was overseeing the court’s investigation, was barred from entering the U.S. and all of his America-based assets were frozen.

Bolsonaro, 70, was found guilty alongside three co-defendants — including an army admiral and three generals. He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial and is expected to appeal.