RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Thursday, the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, attempted to minimize President Jair Bolsonaro’s statements addressed to the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron.
In a lecture to some 600 entrepreneurs, he listed actions taken by the economic team in recent months and said that, despite the progress, the press prefers to report the president’s controversial deeds.
“What I see in the newspapers is that he scolded (Michelle) Bachelet, that he called (President Emmanuel) Macron’s wife ugly. She really is ugly, it’s no lie.”
By the end of the event, when asked by the press whether he supported Bolsonaro’s statement, Guedes said he was in jest, but, annoyed, he said he wouldn’t justify anything.
“You saw what the president of France said at the end: we should make an international intervention in the Amazon. You should be criticizing that. The president of France is wanting to intervene because they called his wife ugly. Look at that horrible thing,” he said.
And he added:
“Does that mean that if someone calls your wife ugly you can engage in an international intervention? Do you support an intervention?” – he asked, closing the press conference.
After calling the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron, “ugly,” Economy Minister Paulo Guedes released a note in which he apologizes, classifies the speech as a “joke,” that “there was no intention of uttering personal offenses” and says that the objective was to illustrate that “relevant issues” have no public space.
Hours after the portfolio released a public apology. According to the Ministry of Economy, the minister made a “joke” during a lecture for entrepreneurs in Fortaleza (CE).
“Minister Paulo Guedes apologizes for the joke made today at a public event in Fortaleza (CE), when he mentioned the first French lady, Brigitte Macron,” says the portfolio in a press release. “The minister’s intention was to illustrate that relevant and urgent issues for the country do not have the space they should in the public debate. There was no intention to issue personal offenses”, says the statement.