VIDEOSGZERO World with Ian BremmerQuick TakePUPPET REGIMEIan ExplainsGZERO ReportsAsk IanGlobal Stage
Site Navigation
Search
Human content,
AI powered search.
Latest Stories
Sign up for GZERO Daily.
Get our latest updates and insights delivered to your inbox.
Global Stage: Live from Davos
WATCH
Ian Bremmer shares his perspective on global politics on this week's World In (More Than) 60 Seconds:
Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, has coronavirus. What are your thoughts and where does this leave Brazil?
Well, I mean, you know, if coronavirus was karmic, and I don't believe that, Bolsonaro would be the president you kind of expect would get it, right? Because he's been saying, "it's just a little flu, don't worry about it, I don't need to wear a mask, everyone can come out and rally, we can hug, we can hold hands, we can shake hands with no problem." He's been doing that for months now and he's exposed to an awful lot of people, both in Brazil and internationally, including in the United States when he traveled to meet with President Trump in Mar a Lago. And now he's taken the test. The 65-year-old president has coronavirus.
He's saying, "I'm fine. Look at me. Look at my face. There's no problem." I hope he's fine. You don't wish ill health on anybody, but you also kind of hope that someone who has gotten it this wrong, with well over 50,000 dead in Brazil, with some of the worst case load of any country in the world after the United States, Brazil is right there with us, and per capita looks considerably worse and their hospitals are starting to get overwhelmed and his popularity is going down. And, you know, their ability to manage this effectively and also keep the economy going is really, really challenged. So, I mean, I've said it before. I'll say it again, among Democratic presidents, Jair Bolsonaro is by far been the worst in handling coronavirus on the health care side, on the cheerleading side, on the fake news side and on the economic side. He's kind of got everything going against him. He's just not handled this well.
Brazil does have a lot of strong governors that do have a strong and reasonably independent judiciary, which has helped the country a lot. Bolsonaro also now is in the middle of growing impeachment cases surrounding him and his family, some of which involves corruption. That's going to dog him for the rest of his term. It's possible he'll even be thrown out like his predecessors, but if not, it's hard to imagine that he's going to be reelected. Brazil is, after all, still a democracy. So, horrible to see all this news in a country that really should be doing pretty well, all things considered. But poor governance makes a real difference, especially in a crisis.
There was an assassination attempt on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. What's the story?
I'm stunned that the American media has said virtually nothing about this. This was an extremist from Manitoba who gets in his pickup truck, he drives to the prime minister's residence, breaks through the gates with a bunch of, like heavy rifles, like machine guns, and Trudeau is not home, thankfully, and the guy doesn't do great research, thankfully. Turns out to be some QAnon inspired nut job. And the Canadian police, rather than firing on him and killing him, which probably would have happened in the United States and a lot of other countries, actually managed to talk him down and apprehend him. But it's not making much news. I mean, I've talked about it with friends and colleagues here in the United States, it's the first they've heard of it. And I'm honestly a little surprised. I mean, I know that a lot most Americans don't have passports. They don't travel. We don't pay attention to news that isn't in the United States. And Trump dominates everything. But I mean, Trudeau's been covered like America's boyfriend for the last five years by the mainstream media.
You would think an assassination attempt against him would drive coverage in the US. And it really isn't. And it really should. Because, of course, you know, even though we don't have nearly as much of an international terrorist issue in the United States and in Canada as we did say in 9/11 days, we have a very significant domestic terrorism problem in the United States and Canada. And it's been growing. And we're going to need to deal with it. And, you know, thank God that this guy is not only an ideological nut job, but also doesn't know how to plan an assassination, or we could have very, very different news right now from our friendly neighbors to the north.
Finally, Australia resumes lockdown. How are they handling the pandemic?
And the answer is, reasonably well. You know, they are locking down the border between their two largest provinces. They've not done this an enormously long period of time. And it's because there is serious outbreak. But I mean, this is way earlier than you're seeing in the United States. They've largely been following the scientific guidelines from their own health minister, their own government. And that means that when you see an expansion, you shut everything down. And that's helped the Australian numbers overall to be comparatively limited. And it gives them a handle on the spread. They're not doing the job that New Zealand is, much more isolated, shut down their borders completely. All these billionaires that bought their luxury boat holds and now can't even get to the land they own because New Zealand doesn't want a more coronavirus. Australia doesn't have that. They've got economic problems, too, because increasingly there's a trade war happening between Australia and China with an enormous amount of trade and investment going there. But in terms of general governance around coronavirus, Australia not being cheerleader's, not politicizing this overtly, doing a reasonable job. And hopefully that will continue with this response to recent outbreaks.
Keep reading...Show less
More from ask ian
Trump–Zelensky meeting at Mar-a-Lago
December 29, 2025
Is the US heading toward military strikes in Venezuela?
December 22, 2025
Trump, loyalty, and the limits of accountability
December 16, 2025
Notre Dame, politics, and playing by their own rules
December 08, 2025
Trump threatens regime change in Venezuela
December 02, 2025
Is Trump’s trade strategy backfiring abroad?
November 25, 2025
Ian stands in line for a bagel, the internet melts down
November 21, 2025
Could Trump have handled the Epstein issue any worse?
November 17, 2025
Democrats divided over government shutdown deal
November 11, 2025
Zohran Mamdani and America's political future
November 04, 2025
Trump, Xi, and the new US–China standoff
October 14, 2025
US-China AI race: Dueling strategies and potential risks
October 07, 2025
Trump shifts on Russia: From carrots to sticks in Ukraine war
September 30, 2025
Trump’s UN speech: Sovereignty, security, and ending wars
September 23, 2025
Israel attacks and targets Hamas leadership in Qatar
September 10, 2025
US strike on vessel from Venezuela
September 03, 2025
Trump pulls US out of UNESCO, again
July 22, 2025
Trump announces new plan to arm Ukraine
July 15, 2025
Are NATO allies aligned on Iran?
June 24, 2025
Will Iran’s regime survive?
June 18, 2025
Trump-Musk rift over Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
June 04, 2025
What is Trump after in his latest Gulf states tour?
May 13, 2025
Why Mark Carney’s victory won’t heal the US-Canada rift
April 29, 2025
Trump tariff is starting a US-China trade war
April 08, 2025
What if Japan & South Korea sided with China on US tariffs?
April 01, 2025
US travel warnings issued by its closest allies
March 25, 2025
US-Canada trade war helps Mark Carney's election prospects
March 11, 2025
Why Trump won’t break the Putin-Xi alliance
March 04, 2025
Will Trump & Musk punish Brazil over Bolsonaro indictment?
February 19, 2025
Putin trolls Europe about "the master" Trump
February 04, 2025
DeepSeek puts US-China relations on edge
January 30, 2025
Gaza ceasefire likely as Biden and Trump both push
January 14, 2025
Meta scraps fact-checking program: What next?
January 07, 2025
GZERO Series
GZERO Daily: our free newsletter about global politics
Keep up with what’s going on around the world - and why it matters.
















































