What the Right-Wing Freak-Out over Trump's "Banana Republic" Indictment Is Really About

What happened Thursday had been anxiously anticipated. It was ultimately disappointing for the former president, who expected a strong show of support from followers who backed him when he rejected the results of a democratic election that cast him from office after four tumultuous years. Although these followers previously staged a revolt in the nation’s capital in his name, few turned out this week when he hoped for a powerful demonstration of continued political force. 

I’m talking about former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, but these sentences could just as easily describe the week Donald Trump had. Both former heads of state had a lively few days, raising two key questions: First, are recent developments good for Trump/Bolsonaro and their respective political projects? Second, by indicting Trump, is the United States becoming more like, say, Brazil (“third-world” justice, as Trump’s sons cried)—or is the deep ideological polarization of Brazilian politics today actually a sign of the largest Latin American nation becoming more like the U.S.? […]

The apparent gap in their political chances marks the first key difference between Trump and Bolsonaro. Many Trump supporters see the very fact that Trump is running competitively for president right now as the real reason for Thursday’s reported indictment. Some speculated that Bolsonaro’s return to Brazil and Trump’s indictment would actually bolster their political aspirations. Brian Winter, editor in chief of Americas Quarterly, for example, tweeted: “A grand jury votes to indict Donald Trump on same day Jair Bolsonaro returns to Brazil. A good day, politically speaking, for both of them.” A Republican donor told The Hill on Friday that “Trump will make great use of this. It will give him a big fundraising boost and lots of free media.” (TNR’s Alex Shephard has convincingly rebutted this argument that Trump will benefit from the indictment, with reasoning that I think can be applied to Bolsonaro as well.)…

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