Lula Suggests ‘Hanging’ Bolsonaros for ‘Betrayal’ After Trump Meeting

According to Breitbart News, Senator Bolsonaro stated he will submit the complaint to Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal, accusing Lula of threatening him and inciting violence against his family during a government event held on Tuesday.

The complaint alleges that Lula committed crimes of making threats and incitement to commit a crime when he declared on June 2, 2026, that the senator should suffer the same fate as Tiradentes and be hanged. The Brazilian presidency had not issued any public response to the announcement at the time of reporting.

Flávio Bolsonaro, who is challenging Lula in the October 2026 presidential race, recently met with President Donald Trump at the White House alongside his brother, former lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro. Eduardo has been living in the United States since 2025 after requesting political asylum. Flávio entered the presidential contest after his father, conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro, was barred from holding public office and imprisoned on charges described as crimes against democracy last year.

During the White House meeting, Bolsonaro requested that the United States classify the dangerous Brazilian criminal organizations Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital as terrorist groups. As Breitbart News exclusively reported first, the United States designated both gangs as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations shortly after Trump met with the Bolsonaro brothers. The designations are scheduled to take effect on June 5.

While Brazilian conservatives and the Bolsonaro family welcomed the American designations, President Lula and his administration responded with fierce condemnation, branding the Bolsonaros as traitors to Brazil. Speaking at an event in Catalão, Goiás on Tuesday, Lula doubled down on the treason accusations and drew parallels between the White House visit and historical events from Brazil’s Portuguese colonial era.

Lula declared that the son of Bolsonaro manages to be even worse than his father, calling them genuine traitors to the nation for requesting a foreign country to interfere in Brazilian affairs. He then invoked colonial history, stating that Joaquim Silveira do Reis was hanged for betraying Tiradentes, and suggested such punishment is what traitors deserve.

The Brazilian president continued his attack, describing cowards who make inflammatory statements but lack the courage to stand by their words, choosing instead to lie repeatedly.

Multiple Brazilian media outlets, including CNN Brasil, Poder 360, and O Globo, noted that Lula made significant errors in his historical references while threatening the Bolsonaro family.

Poder 360 clarified that Lula incorrectly claimed Joaquim Silvério dos Reis, a whistleblower in Colonial Brazil’s 1789 Mineira separatist conspiracy, was hanged for treason. In historical reality, it was Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, known as Tiradentes, who was executed by hanging in 1792. Silvério dos Reis actually died of natural causes in 1819.

UOL provided additional fact-checking on Wednesday morning, explaining that Joaquim Silvério dos Reis is historically remembered for betraying the Inconfidência Mineira, one of Brazil’s first pro-republican movements against Portuguese colonial rule. The movement occurred between 1788 and 1789 under the leadership of Tiradentes.

Tiradentes was betrayed to Portuguese authorities by Colonel Silvério dos Reis, who had been both his personal friend and fellow conspirator. The betrayal came in exchange for the forgiveness of substantial debts owed to the Royal Treasury, marking what is considered the first known plea bargain arrangement in Brazilian history.

Senator Bolsonaro responded to Lula’s threats during an official event in Belo Horizonte, directly addressing the Brazilian president and emphasizing that fear does not exist in his vocabulary. He shared video of his remarks on social media, demonstrating defiance in the face of the president’s inflammatory rhetoric.

With information from Breitbart News