RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Appointed “international tourism ambassador” by the Brazilian Tourist Board (EMBRATUR) on August 15th, jiu-jitsu instructor and businessman Renzo Gracie published attacks on French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte. Macron is on a collision course with President Jair Bolsonaro over the environmental crisis in the Amazon.
In a video distributed on social media, Renzo calls the French president a “clown” and says he has a “chicken neck”. The businessman, who has already been part of a live broadcast with Bolsonaro, has also minimized the fires in the Amazon forest and said that “the only fire there is lies within the hearts of Brazilians and of our president”.
“Macron… I’m sorry, Micron, Micron. My brother, you’re badmouthing my country. The only fire there is lies within the hearts of Brazilians and of our president, you clown. Come over here and you’ll get that chicken neck of yours squeezed. You don’t fool me, man.” says Renzo Gracie in the recording.
In contact with the report, Renzo said he was on an EMBRATUR’s working mission with businessmen, politicians, and diplomats in Miami, when he heard the criticism made by Macron to Brazilian environmental policy. He decided to “vent” against what he considers negative propaganda of Brazil.
“I was with the American Airlines staff, and the guy was checking how many passengers were going to Brazil and there was this absurd decline, a lot of people canceling the trip because of this fake fire,” he said, claiming to have offered Bolsonaro satellite data showing that the fires in the Amazon are at normal level.
“This gang of clowns only opens their mouths to speak ill of our country,” said the tourism ambassador, referring to Macron. “Of course a lot of people will be astonished, they will think that I called him a chicken because his honesty is doubtful, but not so. I’ve met many gay men more masculine than this imbecile.”
Renzo has also been sharing memes and jokes among his contacts with derogatory comments about Brigitte Macron, the French president’s wife, who was insulted on Bolsonaro’s Facebook page. To the report he reaffirmed the jokes’ content:
“I’ll ask you a question, is his wife pretty or ugly? Would you pick her up? If you badmouth our country, get ready to hear a lot of nonsense, and also about your relatives. The fact that he’s sleeping with a dragon doesn’t make him an expert on fire. She’s ugly, bro,” Renzo said.
The comments on the French first lady’s appearance have sparked a wave of solidarity on social media, and she responded by thanking them last Thursday.
Renzo Gracie, the owner of a large network of gyms in New York, has been a great supporter of the president and has already said that he will be joining him on a trip to the United Arab Emirates, in October. Renzo also has gyms in Brazil.
Together with the president of EMBRATUR, Gilson Machado Neto, in the United States, he says he earns nothing for public relations work with entrepreneurs and foreign politicians. “I don’t want a penny from the government, I’m paying for everything from my own pocket because I believe in Bolsonaro. Finally, we have a president who says what needs to be said. Better a man saying what he says than twenty intellectuals sitting there,” he said.