Tucker Carlson Defends Pro-Bolsonaro Rioters, Baselessly Declares Brazil’s Election Was ‘Rigged’

Tucker Carlson baselessly claimed Brazil’s presidential election was rigged and said rioters who stormed government buildings in the capital city have reason to be angry.

Scores of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in Brasilia on Sunday. Many say he – and not President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (or, Lula) – won. About 1,500 arrests have been made in connection with the riots.

After Lula was declared the winner in October, Bolsonaro’s supporters made unfounded claims the election had been rigged. In November, Carlson falsely told his audience the election “is still ongoing,” as if to suggest the results might be overturned.

On Monday, Carlson, who conducted a softball interview with Bolsonaro in June, told his audience unequivocally that Brazil’s election was “very clearly” stolen.

“Consider what is happening tonight in Brazil,” he said. “Thanks to what was very clearly a rigged election, a convicted criminal – Lula da Silva – is now the president of the most important country in South America. Millions of people in Brazil understand exactly what happened. They know that their democracy has been hijacked, possibly forever.”

Carlson was alluding to the fact that Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2011, was convicted of corruption. However, Brazil’s high court annulled the convictions, which Lula said were politically motivated.

He then referred to those who stormed government buildings as mere “protestors.”

“So, yesterday in frustration, a group of Brazilian protestors swarmed their legislature,” he said before playing a montage of the mayhem.

Carlson then noted the comparisons being made to the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S.

“What’s happened in Brazil is likened to Jan. 6,” he continued. “And of course, populist leaders in this country are being blamed for it. ‘Oh, it was Trump and Steve Bannon who did it.’ That’s not true, but even if it were true, it would be just the tail-end of the story. It’d be the result of something that happened before. The obvious question is why are protestors in Brazil so angry?”

The host went on to allege Lula “has eliminated their most basic civil liberties,” though he did not explain how.

Watch above via Fox News.