On Tuesday (18), President Jair Bolsonaro insulted Folha journalist Patrícia Campos Mello with sexual innuendo. "She [reporter] wanted a scoop. She wanted to scoop the scoop at any price against me [laughs from him and the rest]," said the president in an interview before a group of supporters outside of Palácio da Alvorada.
The president's statement was a reference to the testimony of a former employee of a mass messaging agency via WhatsApp, given last week to the Fake News CPMI in Congress.
Hans River do Rio Nascimento, testified to the commission. He worked for Yacows, a company specializing in digital marketing, during the 2018 election campaign.
In December of that year, Folha published a news story based on documents from the Labor Court and interviews with Hans. The reporting showed how a network of companies, including Yacows, resorted to the fraudulent use of elderly people's names and CPFs to register cell phone chips and blast messages to benefit politicians.
At CPMI, in front of deputies and senators, Hans lied and insulted Patrícia, one of the journalist who worked on the article.
Without presenting evidence, Hans said that Patrícia wanted "a certain type of matter in exchange for sex."
Folha released the following comment on Bolsonaro's insult: "The President of the Republic attacks the reporter Patrícia Campos Mello and all professional journalism with his attitude. He also vilifies the dignity, honor, and decorum that the law requires from exercising Presidency".
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon