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Video excerpt: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro grabs the Youtuber's arm
Photo: TV GLOBO / REUTERS
Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro physically attacked a YouTuber who had previously provoked and insulted him.
A video published on Thursday by the Brazilian news portal G1 shows Bolsonaro taking selfies with supporters in front of the presidential residence in the capital Brasília.
Then the Youtuber identified by »G1« as Wilker Leão began to ask the president critical questions and to film himself.
A person not seen in the recordings then threw Leão to the ground, whereupon YouTube called the president a series of insults such as "coward" and "bum".
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Bolsonaro, who had already got into his car, got out again, ran up to Leão with the words “come here, I want to talk to you”, tried to grab his cell phone, grabbed his shirt and then grabbed his arm with both hands.
Security guards quickly intervened and led Leão away.
Minutes later, the adversaries - separated from bodyguards - had a short conversation.
Bolsonaro and his challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva officially started their campaign for the presidential election in October on Tuesday.
Right-wing extremist Bolsonaro performed in the city of Juiz de Fora in the state of Minas Gerais, where a man attacked and seriously injured him with a knife four years ago during an election campaign.
Polls see left-wing ex-president Lula clearly ahead of the incumbent.
In a new survey by the opinion research institute Datafolha, the 76-year-old Lula comes to 47 percent, the 67-year-old Bolsonaro to 32 percent.
The right-wing president was able to reduce the gap to his challenger by three points compared to the previous month.
If none of the candidates wins more than 50 percent of the votes in the first ballot on October 2nd, there will be a runoff on October 30th.
mfh/AFP
