Paulo Guedes, minister of the Economy, defended President Jair Bolsonaro's offensive comment on the French First Lady Brigitte Macron.
At an event on Thursday (5) in Fortaleza, Guedes said that Bolsonaro only reacted to criticism of Emmanuel Macron about the recent fires in the Amazon.
"We are doing all this in the economy, but people are more concerned is whether [former Chilean President Michelle] Bachellet was insulted, or Macron's wife was insulted," Guedes said.
"Macron said that they are setting fire to the Amazon. President [Bolsonaro] replied, and said that Macron's wife is ugly. The president told the truth, she is ugly. But there is no ugly woman, there is only a woman observed from the wrong angle. And there is this insult," the minister said.
On August 24, Bolsonaro endorsed an offensive comment against the French First Lady on social media.
Commenting on a publication by the Brazilian representative on his Facebook page, follower Rodrigo Andreaça wrote: "You better believe that Macron is jealous."
The message appeared next to a photo of Bolsonaro and his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, is shown below a portrait of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.
Next to the couple photos are the words: "Do you now understand why Macron pursues Bolsonaro?"
Bolsonaro's profile answered Andreaça: "Don't humiliate, man. Kkkkkkk", implying that Macron's recent criticism of the Brazilian president is motivated by envy of the Brazilian's wife.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon