“Americano doesn’t watch TV news, he watches sports on TV,” New York-based Globo and GloboNews reporter Jorge Pontoal said on the news channel’s “Edition of Midnight.” He said the average audience for major news shows there is no more than 5 million viewers, which is very low compared to the more than 300 million.
The comment came after broadcaster Eric Pang questioned whether the American public was aware of Jair Bolsonaro’s presence in the Big Apple and the fact that the president of Brazil had not been vaccinated and thus banned from entering the city’s restaurants. Hours earlier, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference that Bolsonaro is not welcome because he has not been immunized.
Pontoal explained that part of the press talked about Bolsonaro’s arrival to participate in the United Nations General Conference, however, there are no expectations that the Brazilian’s speech will gain space on American television. “They will show (Joe) Biden, and possibly the Iranian…” the reporter said. In the United States, news portals have given Bolsonaro more prominence than television networks.
The main broadcaster with a progressive bias, CNN quoted the Brazilian in an article on its website. “Jair Bolsonaro, who as President of Brazil will stick to the tradition of delivering the first address to the Assembly, will ignore the determination of the world body demanding the vaccination of all registered to the United Nations plenary,” says an excerpt.
Local ABC News in New York showed Bolsonaro for a few seconds in a report on preparations for the meeting of heads of state and concern that the event could become “super propaganda” for the coronavirus. The president of Brazil will be the only unvaccinated of the G-20 leaders who will participate in the United Nations General Assembly.
In Brazil, “Journal Nacional” allotted 4 minutes to Bolsonaro’s trip in the Monday (20) edition. Reporter Tiago Eltz recounted the viral photo of the president eating pizza on the sidewalk, revealed that the Intercontinental Hotel allowed him to have breakfast in the lounge with other guests even without proof of vaccination, and showed the bilateral meeting with the British Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson has praised the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine developed in the UK. Johnson said everyone should take the serum and that he himself took both doses. Then Jair Bolsonaro shook his finger and said, “Not yet,” Eltz said. The reporter also said that a member of Bolsonaro’s entourage had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, without revealing the identity of the person.
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