Responding "with disdain" to the death of five thousand ... the President of Brazil faces a storm of anger because of his comment on the death of Corona

Rarely has a two-word phrase sparked a storm of controversy like that of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday when a journalist asked him a question regarding the death of more than five thousand Brazilians from the emerging coronavirus and his response was "albeit".

The impromptu commentary of the far-right leader continues to stir anger, as rulers, politicians, health professionals and media figures have entered the controversy to express their discontent over his lack of sympathy.

Polsonaro is no stranger to stirring controversy, but his recent statements have caused particular outrage that Brazil appears to be facing a major pandemic, still several weeks away from the height of the epidemic, and the death toll threatens to exceed the worst expectations.

The number of confirmed cases officially announced more than 91 thousand so far, but scientists warn that the real numbers may be 15 or 20 times higher.

With the death toll exceeded 6,300, the South American giant country faces a grim scenario like Italy or the United States.

"If not, sorry. What do you want me to do?" Bolsonaro said on Tuesday, when asked about the death toll to cross the 5,000 threshold. He joked that although his triple name includes the name Messias, or Christ, "I do not do miracles."

The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Wilson Witzel, considered the president's comments "totally unacceptable."

While the public health sector was standing on the brink of collapse, he denounced the president because he "ridiculed the deaths" rather than "being a leader at a time like this."

"Do your job," he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, on the day the defender-in-chief was training in a firing field out of the trouble of 210 million Brazilians.

Brasilia bubble
, Sao Paulo state governor João Doria - who is also on the first line of defense in the fight against a pandemic that has killed more than 2,500 people in the state - responded angrily to Bolsonaro in the capital, Brasilia.

"Go out with your bubble in Brasilia," he said, urging Bolsonaro to visit hospitals "in this country that is crying for his dead and injured."

Eder Gatti, president of the Medical Association of Sao Paulo, called in television remarks for a "more serious stance than the President of the Republic."

"The president is showing very little sensitivity to the tragedies of the families of those affected directly by the epidemic," said Lucio Reno, director of the Institute of Political Science at the University of Brasilia.

"It adopts the iron fist style, that is, showing cruelty, rather than solidarity or sympathy."  

This approach inevitably calls for a comparison with what Bolsonaro considers to be a role model, meaning US President Donald Trump.

Reno said this kind of response "shocked a large part of the people, and reinforces among a large segment of the elites and the Brazilian people the idea that he is not qualified to rule."

Myriam Letao wrote an editorial in the Opogo newspaper on Thursday saying, "Bolsonaro and by saying (though not) has abandoned the presidency."

"Anyone who shows disdain for his people cannot remain president," she added.

History judgment and
in a tactic adopted since he became president, Bolsonaro was quick to take an offensive position in the face of criticism from the rulers and mayors who had been given the Supreme Court the power to decide in the fight against the pandemic.

"Ask Joao Doria or (Bruno) Covas (Mayor of São Paulo) why the deaths continue even after they take these restrictive measures," the president said.

"They must have the answers. I cannot be held responsible."

However, the press Friday blamed Bolsonaro for the high number of deaths and HIV infections, who encouraged people to go out to work and prevent the economy from collapsing, and whose most enthusiastic supporters took to the street to protest against the closure orders.

And the phrase "though?" Polsonaro's words "clearly show the low importance he attaches to the situation," says political analyst Andre Pereira Cesar.

"If the president does not take a leadership position like a time of war against the virus, history and voters will judge him harshly," the analyst warned.