Without naming names, President Jair Bolsonaro said on Sunday (5) that he would fire members of his government who become "stars."
"(For) some people in my government, something went up in their heads. They are thinking too much. They were normal people, but suddenly they became stars, they talk by the elbows, they have provocations. The D time has not come yet. Their time will come because my pen works," Bolsonaro said to a group of religious, about 20 people, who gathered in front of the Palácio da Alvorada.
"I am not afraid to fire people, nor am I terrified. And it will be used for the good of Brazil. It is not for my good," he said.
Bolsonaro did not speak to journalists, nor did he allow them to approach. The government itself broadcast part of the conversation, other excerpts recorded by supporters.
In the last few days, Bolsonaro has been strangling Luiz Henrique Mandetta, Minister of Health, and said that the minister lacks humility, which he extrapolated.
The President has disagreed with Mandetta's social isolation measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Bolsonaro adopted a discourse against the closing of trade in the states.
After this declaration on humility, given on Thursday (2), the minister reacted and said: "I do not comment on what the President of the Republic says. He has a popular mandate, and whoever has a popular mandate speaks, and who does not, like me, work. "
Behind the scenes, Mandetta has told allies that he does not intend to resign and will only leave by Bolsonaro's decision. Asked by Folha to comment on the President's statements, Mandetta did not respond.
The Ministry of Health's approval during the coronavirus crisis has skyrocketed and is already more than double that registered by Bolsonaro.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro, who has already fired four cabinet ministers and changed three others, said he was wrong in choosing some.
Disrespecting the recommendations of the health authorities, he and his minister Luiz Eduardo Ramos (Government Secretariat) gathered with evangelicals who fasted all day. The President called for fasting as a way to fight the coronavirus.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon